What Other Jobs Can I Do?

Published Jan 29, 2017

today091979

1 Post

I need some advice on what I can do with my BSN degree.

I have nearly 5 years of total experience at this point. I spent over 4 years on an inpatient pulmonary unit in Asheville, NC. For the first two years, the unit was Progressive Care/Step Down, then we were switched to Med-Surg, but this was all the same unit, with a lot of pulmonary, gastro, psych, and some cardiac patients. The unit was intense - it was known throughout the hospital for its "trainwrecks" and behavioral disorder problems. Then I moved to Boulder, CO, where I am just finishing 7 months as a home hospice RN/Case Manager. This "40 hour/week" job has turned out to be more like 50-60 hours/week, with much more acute patients than what hospice in NC cared for. I don't know if I'll ever consider taking another salaried position.

All the overtime and extra stress has been a catalyst to destroy my marriage and family, not to mention obstructing my ability to follow my real calling in life as part of my spiritual tradition. Being an RN was supposed to be a reliable way to make a living that could support the rest of my life, but instead it has contributed quite a bit to tearing apart the most import parts of my life. I have always done an excellent job wherever I worked, but the cost has been too much.

I need a job with a much lower intensity levels and hours that I can rely on. Every job has bad days, but my experience so far is that RNs are routinely abused and expected to work way more hours than advertised. In addition to my BSN degree, which I earned in an ABSN pogram, I also have a BA in Religion from one of the top liberal arts schools in the country, so my writing, research, and thinking skills are strong as well. If anyone has any ideas on other fields to investigate for work, I would greatly appreciate the advice.

Thanks,

Todd