Returning to Nursing after a year away

[VegGal, RN]

Hello. I'm an BSN, RN who's been away from nursing for about a year. I'm unsure of what type of nursing jobs I should apply for. I want to avoid IVs and catheters, etc. (I'm fine with med administration without IVs and caths).

My main question is if I go into mental health nursing at a small hospital that only takes mental health clients, it possible to avoid IVs and Foley catheter insertions, etc? Am I looking for a job that doesn't exist?

PS. I'm avoiding positions such as DON or ADON for now until I'm back in nursing for a year or two. I'm also not interested in teaching. Any help / suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!

[DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN]

I came back to acute nursing after a two year absence. I soon got back into the swing of IVs and all the rest of it. Don't stress. It's like riding a bike. You haven't forgotten how.

[marnieshe]

I'm in a similar situation. Haven't been working for the past year and the job I had prior to that was a piece of cake. All I did all day was Covid testing and vaccinations. I have imposter syndrome and am really afraid to go back to nursing. I feel so unqualified. Ideally I would like something part time but so far haven't found anything. I'm in Orlando area. How do I get over this fear of not knowing what the hell im doing?! 

[Ruth E. Raleigh]

There are a lot of jobs that will not require you to handle IV's and foley/indwelling urinary catheters.  Probably a remote work from home position, telephone triage, etc. where you are not directly involved with patient care.

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Here's a few that come to mind:

• Quality Improvement (QI) Nurse
• Risk Management Nurse
•  Infection Control Nurse (ICP)
• Medical Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) Coordinator
• Case Manager (Clinical or Utilization Review)
• Clinical Documentation Specialist
• Health Information Management (HIM) Nurse
• Employee Health
• Public Health Nurse

Good luck! 

[VegGal, RN]

Thank you everyone. I appreciate all the responses.  🙂

 

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

Most psych units don't allow IVs or catheters because of the ligature risks. There may be some exception to that in the state hospital or on specific med/psych units.