So what is there besides working in a hospital...?

[New2ER]

I've been working for 6 months now. So far I've done 3 months in an ICU and 3 months in an ER. I HATED the ICU. I've come to accept the ER but not really love it. I think part of it might be that I work nights and hence miss out on a lot of time with friends due to my wierd sleep schedule. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I really don't want to stay in a hospital environment. I know I can do the work, I pick up quickly and have gained the respect of most of the senior nurses, but somehow I just don't feel settled.

What else is out there for me besides hospital nursing? I don't know that I want to do direct patient care but I do want to work with people. Maybe teaching? Maybe out of hospital nursing with a more "normal" or flexible schedule? I would love to keep my currect pay but I realize that's probably unreasonable (or maybe not as I won't be starting as a brandy new nurse). I expect to stay at my current job for at least another year, but I'm thinking ahead towards what kinds of certifications/education I might need to pursue a different kind of nursing.

Does anyone have an suggestions? Or where I should look for these non-bedside nursing positions?

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Here are a few options I can think of outside the hospital:

Home health

School nursing

Industrial settings/Occupational health

Insurance companies/Managed Care

Outpatient clinics

Flight/Transport nursing

Teaching a high school health occupations class

Teaching in an MA or LPN/LVN program

The problem you may have with these positions is that they're often not given to new nurses, especially the positions like flight nursing. If you can hang out in the ER for at least the rest of the year, I'd do that. I think it may hurt you that your six months is split up between two units.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

There are also diabetes and cardiac educator nurses, cruise ship nurses and blood donor clinic nurses. The cruise ship nurses work all hours, but they're on a CRUISE SHIP!!

[natsfanrn]

Ooohhh....a cruise ship nurse. Wonder if I can talk my family into that?!

I remember watching an episode of Extreme Home Makeover when one of the workers got a blister and then proceeded to pour aftershave on it. :smackingf Apparently, there was a fulltime nurse on the production crew to help with such mishaps. Just think...getting paid to spend the day watching Ty Pennington in action

[ladside, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Have you thought about retirement? Forgive me. I'm a little burnout these days. I've been an LPN for 21 years and am currently struggling through A&P. You think you've got problems!

[wonderbee, BSN, RN]

Don't forget public health, same day surgery, outpatient dialysis and chemo units. I like the public health option because of government retirement benefits. Something to think about for us older newbies.

[Trvln Nurse, RN]

Ever look into hemodialysis? I worked in the hospitals for years. Regular jobs and travel jobs. You couldn't pay me enough to work on the hospital floor or ICU now....I'm burnt out on that. So I went into hemodialysis....and love it! I work as a traveling hemodialsis RN. I occassionally take acute assignments (work in the ICU doing hemodialysis) but only rarely as I'm still tired of the hospital environment and really don't like seeing the short staffing situation everywhere I go...and the fact that there are more prevalant and more virulant bacterial infections in all of our hospitals. You can also work on cruise ships doing hemodialysis, etc. Lots of options....lots of job opportunities. I like the clinic setting....it's very busy....but you see the same patients over and over again...and if you enjoy aspects of managing patient care you might like this area. Whatever your choice there are a lot more options outside of the hospital than you can think of. That's the beautiful thing about our profession....you can work in so many different areas. Good luck.

[SteelCity_RN]

Flight nursing both fixed wing and rotor wing, ground transport, outpatient, OR, school nurse, Legal consultant nurse...all are good options

[ShiphrahPuah]

I just made the switch from the hospital to a doctor's office a month ago, and I LOVE it! Because my clinic is part of a large organization of clinics associated with a hospital group, I only took a $1 cut in pay. A whole hour off for lunch where I can run errands or just get away, no weekends, no holidays, the day is busy and goes quick but it is not super stressful and I don't have multiple critical patients at once....wonderful!