You do NOT need to “pay your dues” and spend 10 years slaving away in the hospital to get a nice M-F 8-5 clinic job. I got one with minimal psych nursing experience. You DO however have to be open minded with regards to both pay and prestige. If you’re OK with: other nurses lowkey judging you for not working acute care, losing the “skills” at the bedside, taking on somewhat lower pay, and, with the prospect of never working acute care again, then you can find something easily. Look into governments, FQHC’s, school nursing, clinics, rehab centers, dialysis centers, psych (stressful in a different way from bedside), prison (another stressful in its own way situation, and only work for a prison if you’re working for the government, not for an agency), laser hair removal, ALFs, case management, and insurance companies. Not all of these are M-F 8-5 jobs. Start applying now and give yourself 6-12 Months.