What are "stress less" types of nursing jobs?

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I am currently in California, but planning on moving to WA at some point. So any info from any state is appreciated.

I don't thing I can do bedside anymore. Monitoring and managing a lot of patients at once has started to become so stressful. Many patients are so mentally draining.

I was wondering if anyone has left bedside and can tell me what they are doing that has made them happier.

Thanks!

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7 hours ago, Veeeismee said:

I am currently in California, but planning on moving to WA at some point. So any info from any state is appreciated.

I don't thing I can do bedside anymore. Monitoring and managing a lot of patients at once has started to become so stressful. Many patients are so mentally draining.

I was wondering if anyone has left bedside and can tell me what they are doing that has made them happier.

Thanks!

WA will say there are full. but seriously when I was there half the state seemed to be from Cali hahah. Dont mention you are form California though, seriously LOL.

Case management (SW-lite), assistant nurse managers, quality control/education, informatics are all options. You might need to go back to school.

Contrary to the myth, becoming a NP is NOT an avenue for less stress.

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Specializes in Cardiology.

Anything not on the floor. Agree with poster above; NP is not less stressful.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Tele, PH, CM.

There are "in house" jobs that are less stressful than bedside, but still pay hospital wages - your, QA, Discharge Planning, Infomatics. Outside, I would consider Public Health, School Nursing. I am a Case Manager and it can be stressful at times with the size of my case load, and the fact that I have a lot of autonomy. But the bottom line is that stress is mostly subjective. Some nurses have a low tolerance for stress of any kind, and will find it in any job. Easier to learn how to manage the stress rather than look for something "stress-free", which may end up boring you. I'm not saying you should get another bedside job. I didn't like it at all. There is so much more outside the walls of the hospital...go for it.

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On 6/18/2020 at 7:22 PM, Numenor said:

WA will say there are full. but seriously when I was there half the state seemed to be from Cali hahah. Dont mention you are form California though, seriously LOL.

Case management (SW-lite), assistant nurse managers, quality control/education, informatics are all options. You might need to go back to school.

Contrary to the myth, becoming a NP is NOT an avenue for less stress.

Ya I was going to go for NP, but decided perhaps I’m going to skip because I don’t think I have the energy anymore ?. I thought maybe doing education and teaching future nurses would be more fun. And just wanted to look for some other options as well.

and I’m unsure how I would skip saying I’m from Cali if my resume will be covered in Cali.. LOL!

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On 6/21/2020 at 5:53 PM, Katie82 said:

There are "in house" jobs that are less stressful than bedside, but still pay hospital wages - your, QA, Discharge Planning, Infomatics. Outside, I would consider Public Health, School Nursing. I am a Case Manager and it can be stressful at times with the size of my case load, and the fact that I have a lot of autonomy. But the bottom line is that stress is mostly subjective. Some nurses have a low tolerance for stress of any kind, and will find it in any job. Easier to learn how to manage the stress rather than look for something "stress-free", which may end up boring you. I'm not saying you should get another bedside job. I didn't like it at all. There is so much more outside the walls of the hospital...go for it.

Ya I plan on maybe having a bedside per diem job to keep my skills intact in case I would want to go back to bedside... I just want to dip my toes in something else to see if I like it better for the moment. I thought of CM and it does seem very stressful at times.

thanks for your response.

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Specializes in Retired.
1 hour ago, Veeeismee said:

Ya I plan on maybe having a bedside per diem job to keep my skills intact in case I would want to go back to bedside... I just want to dip my toes in something else to see if I like it better for the moment. I thought of CM and it does seem very stressful at times.

thanks for your response.

And a little bedside will make you a desirable instructor if you take that route.

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Research the MANY threads here on AN regarding leaving the bedside.

Research the job boards for insurance company positions. There are disease management, utilization management and many more work from home positions.

Good luck.

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