What else can I do with a BSN beside bedside nursing

Halinja, BSN, RN · Sep 20, 2006

Ayonti, check out this thread...

https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/i-dont-want-do-anymore-154994.html

You are not alone. There are MANY things to do beside bedside nursing. Hang in there!

Halinja, BSN, RN · Sep 20, 2006

Sorry, I don't know why the link isn't working. Try searching for "i dont want to do this anymore" Make sure you leave out the apostrophe on the dont. Its a great thread with lots of suggestions.

ARGH...are there any moderators out there that can tell me why the link won't work, and why when I try searching for the above mentioned thread it doesn't come up??? I can't figure out how to get Ayonti to the right place!

(edited to put this in) Ayonti, try searching for RNOTODAY, her posts come up and that thread is one of them. It's the only way I can find to get you there.

Ayonti · Sep 20, 2006

Halinja said:
Ayonti, check out this thread...
https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/i-dont-want-do-anymore-154994.html
You are not alone. There are MANY things to do beside bedside nursing. Hang in there!

Dear Halinja,

I found it. Thank you so much for your help. I now know that there are others who feel the same way I do.

mommy2BCD · Sep 20, 2006

I know that with a BSN or a bachelor's degree in general you could become a pharm rep. It pays awesome money, traveling. I think it's a pretty cool job and away from bedside nursing and stress. Check it out...I know it can soemtimes be tough to get into, but it's worth a try ? Good luck, I am sure that with your degree there are several options, try not to discouraged too quickly.

Ayonti said:
PLEASE PLEASE help me. I feel like I am all alone with no one to turn to for help. I am a new RN with a BSN. I quit my 1st job as a med surg nurse after 3 months because of stress, depression and anxiety, all because of the job. Prior to this I was a new RN, full of hope and excited about my new career. I am home now unemployed, feeling like I wasted 5 years of my life in nursing school. I also feel like a failure in front of my family. I want to work in a field related to nursing without being a bedside nurse. I am so afraid to go back there that everytime I even think about it my stomach hurts. I am still having anxiety attacks in my personal life because of my 1st job. What other fields can I get into? I feel like I am just wasting away. For my well being I can not go back to a hospital setting but what am I going to do with my BSN and only 3 months experience in med surg. Thanks.

puresass · Sep 20, 2006

i work in the administrative building of a large HMO & there are PLENTY of nurses here working 9-5 monday-friday as case managers. no bedside care, it's actually an office job. you might look into something like that?

lilmeeper123 · Sep 20, 2006

I too have left bedside nursing for similar reasons and have gone to home care/case management and am currently getting credentials for independent nursing to work for myself in this area. Good Luck to you finding your niche in the world of nursing. Hang in there.

Quickbeam, BSN, RN · Sep 20, 2006

Not to repeat myself from the other thread but I'm in community health and I love it. Tricky jobs to find, usually government. I'd urge you to find out where and how your state and town do their job postings. Follow them. Apply for things you'd be interested in. That's how I got my job...I didn't know anyone special, just applied off the government listings.

MQ Edna · Sep 20, 2006

Ayonti wrote:

Quote
what am I going to do with my BSN and only 3 months experience in med surg. Thanks.

There have been a lot of good suggestions given so far, but really . . I'm scratching my head to think of any (non-hospital, non-bedside) job a BSN with 3 months bedside experience can obtain (short of a Dr.'s office job perhaps). There are plenty of case managers where I work too . . but every job description I have ever seen for a case manager (at my facility and elsewhere) requires at least 2 to 3 years bedside experience (even the one person who posted about going into case management has 10 years experience).

I'm a little over one year out of school with a BSN. I can sympathize with how you must have felt in med-surg. As a matter of fact I didn't go into med-surg as a new grad because I didn't think I could handle a 6 patient load during the day and 8-10 at night. So, I went into ICU because it's just 2-1 assignment, but ICU is hectic and frantic too and there have been days where I wondered if I could continue doing this. After one year I am just now getting my "nurse legs" in ICU so to speak.

Maybe you could try a "calmer" and "easier paced" type of nursing like post-partum. I did my practicum in post partum and really liked it (but couldn't find a position right out of school . . but that's another story), you typically get a 4 patient assignment (2 moms and their 2 babies). The patients are generally healthy women, and really it is a pleasant nursing environment. I would say don't give up on bedside nursing for now, try to find something less intense and stressful than med-surg. Another possible area might be ambulatory care (outpatient surgery etc.).

As far as I can tell bedside nursing is what is going to make you marketable and experienced and able to move on to other ventures. . so we all have to do it as we are finding our niche.

Good Luck!!

elkpark · Sep 21, 2006

I'm not trying to criticize and, obviously, don't know anything about the specific details of your situation, but 3 months is hardly a "fair trial" of a new position for a new grad -- most everyone feels stressed, depressed and anxious at that point. It takes a good year or so to start to feel confident and reasonably comfortable.

Also, as another poster pointed out, most of the non-bedside nursing positions want (require) you to have significant experience to get the job.

Best wishes.

angel337, MSN, RN · Feb 6, 2008

there is a light at the end of the tunnel. you just have to give it a chance. i wanted to quit at 3 months also. talk to your manager and let him/her know how you feel, they may try to work with you so that you have more confidence which will ultimately end in you feeling better about going to work. most non-bedside jobs won't take you serious unless you have a couple years of experience under your belt. don't give up.

pj924 · Feb 3, 2011

While 3 months may not be a "fair trial", I will tell you after 6 years that I have been pretty beat up by the nursing profession. I don't think it is fair to tell someone that they have to wait 3 or 5 years before they can come to the conclusion that nursing can be very stressful, and that nurses are often not treated very well. Maybe a really astute person only needs 3 months to figure that out. I wish I had talked to more nurses before I got into the field. I talked mostly with masters-level and ARNP nurses, and of course, they were practicing with much more autonomy at a different level. Most of the line nurses and mid-line manager nurses (unit managers, supervisors etc) I know now would really like to find something else to do, esp. those that have been at it for 3+ years. When I was graduating nursing school in 2005, I read an article in a nursing magazine describing a study of 200 new nurse grads that had been followed for 3 years after graduation. The article reported that after only 3 years, 65% were no longer in nursing. I was in shock and disbelief. Not any more. I know how hard I worked to get my nursing degree and license, and at the time, I could never imagine ever not working as a nurse, but it sounds really appealing nearly 6 years later. The nursing system is broken, and there will never be any true health care reform without major changes in the way we train and employ nurses. If the patient/nurse ratios were legislatively forced to reasonable levels, the true nature of the nursing shortage crisis would be revealed, and hospitals would have to close whole units, but maybe we could stem the tide of nurses burning out and existing the field. I read recently that if every RN in the US actually activated their license and went back into practice, the nursing shortage would end overnight. The problem is not that there aren't enough nurses. The problem is that we keep burning through them quicker than we can train their replacements. I personally believe that true health care reform must first include a revolution in the nature of how we insure health and pay for care, which must first begin with eliminating all for-profit insurers and providers. All health care should be non-profit. I believe for-profit is in direct conflict with highest and best care. And non-profit must be re-defined legislatively to be really not-for-profit, where CEOs aren't paid in 7-figure salaries and income goes to cover only the costs of actual provision of care. Obviously, this will not solve all of the problems with health care but it is a start, and it would go a long way to improving the workplace for nurses. I truly enjoy working with and helping people, and get jazzed by making someone's life better. However, nursing has become too much about the bottom line, over-regulated and understaffed. I am afraid that if something isn't done soon, the shortage of nurses is only going to get worse, esp. in the acute care fields like ER/Trauma and ICU's. Unfortunately, the regular loss of experienced, skilled, competent and caring nurses will probably continue.