Tried an 8-week orientation time on a busy med-surg unit, and sweeties, it ain't working! This ole gal can't work fast enough on med-surg with highly acute patients...and my confidence has tanked. BIGTIME.
Going to be job-hunting----there's only med-surg jobs available at the hospital---and am scared purple. What sort of nursing areas might be good for a slow-coach-sort BSN-RN?
Leaning more towards clinic-type, home settings, or towards a more chronic patient....
My first 6 years in nursing were spent primarily "nursing charts", along with assessments of chronic pts. in home settings. (Developmentally disabled persons.) Good work, but burned out and took a couple years stopout, then returned to work.
Yes, I took a refresher course before trying hospital nursing. Needed every bit of help possible....
Strengths: Don't mind detailed paperwork--in fact, I enjoy it--and have analytical mind. Love teaching (professional Red Cross instructor). It's a cliche, but I ***really like*** being able to nurture and "cuddle" patients when caring for them.
Weaknesses: Can't handle med-surg speeds in a hospital. Very little acute care experience.
Would greatly appreciate any/all suggestions about areas to try and/or areas to avoid. Thanks a million!
Specializes in Infection Preventionist/ Occ Health.
I would argue that having four highly acute patients in pediatrics, as I do most days, still requires a lot of prioritizing and time management skills. We often only have a nursing assistant with one of the patients, so the other three are total care. I certainly do not have time to hold my babies most shifts. However, having never worked in an adult setting I have nothing against which to compare my peds experience.
It may be the facility, not you! I am in a pediatric teaching hospital, med-surg, and my ratios are 4:1! I have more time at this job to get it all done plus teach and hold babies and and and....it really does depend on the environment. I love my job! I had time management issues in other jobs. Just keep looking!
Specializes in Med-Surg, , Home health, Education.
If you are detail oriented with paperwork, and enjoy teaching I think Home Health would be a great place for you- granted if you are not strong in your assessments you should avoid it. I loved home health and got attached to the patients and families. There is a lot of driving in the rural community that I live in and some of the living environments are less than ideal. Another possibility would be a diabetic educator. Seems to be an increasing need for this and other than some staff education it would probably be mostly 1:1. Good Luck!
DO NOT try LTC. They want you to run your butt off too only then you are responsible for up to 50 pts. Those who don't know LTC think it's a breeze - they are wrong.
Hate to tell you but even doctor's offices and clinics want you to run your butt off and don't give you that time to nurture anymore. Time is money and money is always the bottom line these days.
Specializes in Med-Surg/Peds/O.R./Legal/cardiology.
Someone mentioned the O.R. Don't even think about it--especially if you've never worked that area. It takes a GOOD year to have a clue, you will be expected to take call, and you will work at breakneck speeds! Time is money there also.
I would suggest rehab nursing (check how much pulling goes on though). It may not be just an issue of not being able to keep up, but also of the depth you want to go into on your patients. There's nothing wrong with a nurse choosing to be able to spend more time with the patients and getting to know them. Sometimes med surg reminds me of that old "Rawhide" song: "Don't try to understand them, just ride them, rope them, brand them. Head em up, head em out, Rawhide!"
Perhaps you can find a LTC facility that has a Skilled Nursing Unit. A little more challenging procedure-wise than straight LTC, but the pace is not as hectic. A different shift may help too. I always found evenings a little quieter than days, but nights were a little too quiet.
what is a 'parish nurse'? I've seen it mentioned in other forums also, but have never heard of it.
Also, does anyone know of any jobs that don't require a BSN? I am from the old school and have a 3-year diploma. I've been an OR nurse for 32 years, and wish to get as far away from that as possible! In fact, I'd prefer something with less direct-patient care.
Parish nursing is Christian, church-based nursing. I know that there are some churches that are big enough that they pay full time nurses to minister to the health needs of their congregations. Other nurses do it on a volunteer basis. I believe there is a parish nurse forum here although I have not been on it.
I know how frustrating it is to keep seeing ads that say BSN but your years of experience can cancel that out. Don't sell yourself short. I would revamp your resume and put your years of experience and all the many things you have done in the OR at the forefront of the resume. Really wow them so that they want you before they see that you are a diploma nurse. Personally, I'd take a diploma nurse any day. Especially one with as many years of experience as you have.
Maybe look at some state run clinic. Look online at your state's department of health and see what openings they have available. I have seen some interesting ones where I am at. They involve immunization clinics and a lot of community health education - stuff that is BASIC health stuff. And here they are not requiring BSNs for those types of positions. Keep looking and hang in there.
RN1989- thanks for the encouragement and especially your endorsement of diploma nurses! I will definitely check out my state dept. of health.
I'm open to any and all suggestions as to employment for a 3-year diploma nurse with 32 years of OR experience who wishes to leave surgery. Seems impossible, but I know there must be something out there!
Most of the jobs that people are suggesting require a strong clinical acute care knowledge-base. Unfortunatly for Agnus, the best place to get this is med/surg.I wouldn't recommend home health or discharge planning without a few years of acute care. Public Health is an option if you don't think you would want to return to patient care. I spent 10 years in PH, after 8 in acute care, it was a nice change of pace, and I loved it. But when I went into case management, I had to relearn disease process and medications all over again.
ICRN2008, BSN, RN
897 Posts
I would argue that having four highly acute patients in pediatrics, as I do most days, still requires a lot of prioritizing and time management skills. We often only have a nursing assistant with one of the patients, so the other three are total care. I certainly do not have time to hold my babies most shifts. However, having never worked in an adult setting I have nothing against which to compare my peds experience.