I have been a nurse for nine years, working in the emergency room. I desperately want to quit this profession. I am very good at my job but I can honestly say I have never once enjoyed it. I have tried for at least half my career to get into something else within nursing- I've applied numerous times for L&D, mother baby, risk management, utilization review, case management, PACU, ambulatory surgery... I do not have a BSN and that's the only thing I can think of that is holding me back. I have great experience as an ED charge nurse, doing trauma...
I am overwhelmed and burned out by the requirements of the job. Anyone who tells you that nurses have tons of options and that there are always opportunities out there are lying! I cannot for the life of me get experience in anything else because once you start a specialty you are pigeon-holed. A new grad with a BSN will get the job you are applying for. Locally,BSN or MSN (yes you read that correctly) are required for pretty much every entry level new grad position. I have been slowly taking classes to work towards my BSN but honestly I just do not know that I want to pursue a degree in a field where I don't really want to stay to try and help me get a job that I really don't want.
I have no desire to be a manager, I have no desire to go forward and be a nurse practitioner. I feel stuck at the bedside. I have very young children and a husband who works crazy hours so going back to school really is not an option for me unless it is completely online, but even with that I have limited financial resources at this time.
my true and absolute passions are heath, nutrition, wellness and fitness but I cannot find anything that earns nearly the $$ I do now. I don't want to start working 5 days a week and take a huge pay cut.
bottom line- I feel 100% completely stuck, trapped and suffocated by a career that I just hate. I have anxiety every day when I have to go on. Anybody feel the same or have any advice???
Call nurse managers at your hospital in the specialties you want to switch to and ask if you can shadow that way they can meet you and can put a face with an applicant. That is how a lot of my co workers got out of the ED.
I'm sorry to hear you feel this way, though I'm glad you've come to a decision. I realize you have a family, which impacts your ability to move. However, when I graduated nursing school, no one would hire me. I got lots of interviews, but jobs always went to people who were less mature, had less customer service experience, less education, etc. and all because they had CNA experience. It was frustrating, but I finally started applying in a wider area. I landed a job in another state, where BSNs were rare, making me a find. I didn't like the job due to many reasons and left after 4 months. I was worried this would tank my career. No new grad should ever quit with less than a year of experience, right? So, I started applying to areas that were smaller and more rural. I ended up landing a job in L&D because the area was understaffed and found it hard to fill spots. It was wonderful to get my year of experience and then move on. It made me more marketable, for sure. Are there any rural areas nearby that might be driving distance that would be more likely to overlook your lack of BSN, since you are working on it, and retrain you to an area you might enjoy more? Good luck!
9 years of ED experience and you still get anxiety? Oh man I guess it never goes away @.@
To clarify here- I did not have anxiety at all for most of my career and was actually the complete opposite for a long time. In fact people used to joke that nothing used to phase me. But I think the years of just in general being unhappy at work and feeling like I made the wrong career choice just compounded.
I am naturally pretty introverted and being with people for 12 hours just drains me completely.
Specializes in Float Pool - A Little Bit of Everything.
I know how you feel! I am getting out of nursing and sucking up the pay cut. There is no price on my happiness. We only live once and we weren't made to be miserable and hate our work. The Japanese surely have this figured out, their culture is big on working with a passion. Find yours and you will be happier.
NursieNurse14
20 Posts
Call nurse managers at your hospital in the specialties you want to switch to and ask if you can shadow that way they can meet you and can put a face with an applicant. That is how a lot of my co workers got out of the ED.