Thinking outside the box.

[eriksoln]

NO. This is not another critical thinking thread. Sick of them.

When I was in shcool and even before, I heard having an RN license was valuable because there were so many jobs it made available to you. Jobs that didnt take place in the hospital or even have much to do with medical care.

Anyone looking into non-clinical options? Anyone already found one? What are they?

[lamazeteacher]

I met a former nurse who switched to selling medical supplies.

His job involved a lot of demonstrations and inservices relating to the products he sold.

That doesn't thrill me! Probably I'm much too idealistic, but when I'm offered a salary that is insulting to our profession, or that type of work is suggested to me, I refuse. Representing pharmaceutical and equipment companies means that we tend to believe what we're told to say about their products without question. I've seen many a boast about pharmaceuticals and products, without substantiation. I've also seen products that needed better representation, such as the Painbuster and EMLA patches for pediatric injections and venipuncture (look them up, they're great).

Working for far less than the going rate of pay betrays my colleagues, I think, but nurses desperate for employment accept it. Some of my friends in nursing say I'm not hungry enough to do some of the things I oppose. I'd rather be hungry! The upside of that, is that I'm losing weight.......

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I'm glad you started this thread because I've been having the same thoughts. I don't work in M/S, but I'm getting tired of bedside nursing for the same reasons you are. I've been thinking about Same Day surgery a lot lately, but I've heard that they want ICU experience which I don't have.

I'm concerned that if I were to leave bedside nursing after only 2-3 years of experience, it might be hard getting back into bedside nursing down the road if/when I need a new challenge again.

I have many friends who left bedside nursing to do the "same day" surgery at free-standing surgery centers.

No weekends, no holidays, great pay, bonuses, and NO ICU experience.

steph

[Scrubby]

How about OR nursing?

Pros: No relatives, no having to give meds (where I work anyway), no pillow fluffling and having to get grandma a coffee, you get to see interesting anatomy, no callbells, if a patient crashes then you already have a team of doctors there anyway, you look after one patient at a time, demanding patient? They'll be asleep before you know it and once they are out of the room they are out of your life.

Cons: Not much patient contact at all which I miss sometimes. You only get 5 minutes to establish rapport and trust from the patient, if your scrubbed you have to stand for long hours and you get prima donna surgeons (but Eriksoln you seem to be able to handle doctors so you'd be fine).

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

C'mon guys! You're nurses - I KNOW you are more creative than this!

I once knew a nurse who opened her own (ahem) enema clinic in Fla - The last time I heard from her, she was expanding to her 3rd location. Her business was all from physician referrals - self pay. Srsly.

Another burned-out ICU nurse I know is doing electrolysis. When we had lunch last year, she was driving a Jaguar, so I guess business is good. I also know a nurse case manager who is now working directly with 'consumers' helping them to make sense of (and maximize) insurance benefits and figure out claims. She charges a base hourly fee. While none of these folks had any advanced degrees, they're doing great.

I develop & manage online learning for my organization... moved into it via the educator route. This does require advanced education & training - in education, software development, etc. This is a very rewarding field.

I would also encourage everyone to consider Nursing Informatics. This is a VERY hot career field - especially with Obama's stimulus $ for health care IT. There is actually an organized campaign to train nurses & other health care professionals via certificate programs... it's called the "10 by 10" (10,000 trained in 10 years). Here's some info http://www.amia.org/10x10/

[Saifudin]

I'm on Linkedin and some different options come up from recruiters. A recent job for an RN analyst for Booz Allan in D.C. looked interesting. But, for me, I still like leadership and (sorry to say) the challenge of critical thinking and problem solving in nursing and hospital administration.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

C'mon guys! You're nurses - I KNOW you are more creative than this!

I once knew a nurse who opened her own (ahem) enema clinic in Fla - The last time I heard from her, she was expanding to her 3rd location. Her business was all from physician referrals - self pay. Srsly.

Another burned-out ICU nurse I know is doing electrolysis. When we had lunch last year, she was driving a Jaguar, so I guess business is good. I also know a nurse case manager who is now working directly with 'consumers' helping them to make sense of (and maximize) insurance benefits and figure out claims. She charges a base hourly fee. While none of these folks had any advanced degrees, they're doing great.

I develop & manage online learning for my organization... moved into it via the educator route. This does require advanced education & training - in education, software development, etc. This is a very rewarding field.

I would also encourage everyone to consider Nursing Informatics. This is a VERY hot career field - especially with Obama's stimulus $ for health care IT. There is actually an organized campaign to train nurses & other health care professionals via certificate programs... it's called the "10 by 10" (10,000 trained in 10 years). Here's some info http://www.amia.org/10x10/

Thank you so much. I am considering nursing infomatics. I am looking into this.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Glad you found the info helpful. My oldest daughter (not a nurse) has a Masters in BioMedical Informatics. She graduated from Oregon Health Sciences University Medical School - they have a very well-established program that includes a distance learning option.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

Oregon? Nice.

I drove through there on vaca. once. Got a marbled stone off the beach. It stays on my dashboard now.

[chicookie, BSN, RN]

How about a nursing school counselor or tutor. My online RN to BSN counselor/adviser lady is an RN and she was very up front with me and said since the program is online all she does is tell people what they need for school, financial stuff and help them enroll . She said if I didn't like bedside nursing that was the way to go. In short she does nothing.....

[netglow, ASN, RN]

how about cruise ship nursing?? that looks like it would be alot of fun!! you could be a nurse for carnival or something.

Erik, I could so see you... cruise ship nurse by day, and at nite at the piano in the bar.... "hey everybody, lets take the lights down a bit, and I'll sing ya a little song about back in the day... in med/surg"

[flightnurse2b, LPN]

here's a link for cruise ship nurse jobs.

http://www.cruiseshipjob.com/medical.htm

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

How about a nursing school counselor or tutor. My online RN to BSN counselor/adviser lady is an RN and she was very up front with me and said since the program is online all she does is tell people what they need for school, financial stuff and help them enroll . She said if I didn't like bedside nursing that was the way to go. In short she does nothing.....

I can do nothing. I'm very proficient at it. My wife would be first in line to be a professional reference to that.