Returning to the Bedside

[LynnDiM]

Looking for advice on how to return to bedside nursing after being away. I currently work at a hospital as a case manager/discharge planner and miss being at the bedside, I feel like a secretary!!! I applied for a transfer, but was told by the managers that they were concerned because I have not had direct patient care for about 4-5 years. I have 2 years hospital experience, 2 years homecare and over 1 year in case management. Any advice on how to make the transition back??

[westieluv]

Is it very important to you to stay within the same company? If so, then I would look into taking an RN refresher course to let the management know that you are very serious about getting back into bedside nursing. There are online options that you can do from home in the evenings. You really haven't been out of it for that long, so I'm kind of surpised that they feel this way, but with the surplus of nurses we are seeing today, it seems that employers are getting way more (too) picky.

If you don't mind finding a different employer, you could apply at some other hospitals (assuming that there are other hospitals in your area) or at less traditional types of employers. I know that I was having a difficult time getting any hospital to consider me when I first tried to get back into bedside nursing after taking over seven years off, even after taking an RN refresher course, so I took a job in an inpatient hospice facility. My goal was originally to get back into hospital bedside nursing, so after working for a year at the hospice facility, I got hired by a local hospital as a Med/Surg contingent float nurse. Ironically, I discovered that I really didn't want to do that kind of nursing again as I had thought, but just kind of assumed that that was what I had to do, since that is what my experience was in. In fact, I had found my true calling in the meantime, and am now back in hospice and loving it.