Tuckered Out in Surgery

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Nurse Beth,

I am currently a nurse in the OR. I have my BSN (which took me 14yrs to complete). I am at a cross roads in my life however. I am 50 but do not want to continue my current career. I have an op to get my MSN, but I do not know what to do. I am interested in Forensic Nursing, and Nursing informatic. However I really want to slow down. I was in the ER for 15 yrs then Trauma OR and really I don't want the stress and warn out feeling anymore, but I still want to be a nurse. WHAT should I do?

All tuckered out!

Dear Tuckered Out,

You've hit that tipping point in your career where it's time to make a change.

You can be a nurse without providing direct care or being a clinician. Have you looked into staff education? With your experience, you could train new nurses. Informatics is a good choice as well, and with your background, you could contribute to building order sets.

You can also look at vendors of medical/surgical supplies and see what openings they have for education or sales.

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

Author, "Your Last Nursing Class: How to Land Your First Nursing Job"...and your next!