I will be going on 10 years in the ER in March. I have done the trauma center thing and have been in a nice suburban ER for the past 5 years.
Here's my question: Is there another specialty that ER nurses fit into well? Have you left the ER not because you hated it/burned out, but because you wanted to try something else?
I love the ER but feel like I don't want to do the same thing forever.
I did the CEN/trauma cert thing a long time ago, so that's done. Got the BSN. Thinking about a Masters, but not sure what to focus on.
All I know is management is not for me.
I feel like once you stay put in the ER, you get used to a certain type of flow and thinking that's not present at most places.
Let me know when you figure it out! I've been in the ED for 19 years and I'm burnt to a crisp! I'd like to do something else I just don't know what. I thought about (and applied for, but didn't get) a job in a surgery center doing the preop stuff. Same kinda pace (in and out). I suppose when I told them I have RA they decided to to take me or maybe it's that I have years and years of experience and therefore require a bigger paycheck.
Specializes in ER/SICU/Med-Surg/Ortho/Trauma/Flight.
I did er for a long time, I still work it occaisionally but I pretty much work SICU all the time now days seeing as how Im the night house supervisor, we all get older and most of us older er nurses no offense are ready to get out, most of the er nurses I have started out with have moved to my SICU or MICU, or CCU. Just thought Id throw my 2 cents in. lol
I take no offense at all! I am one of those older nurses!! lol. Except I've worked in OR for 32 years and am definitely ready to get out of there. I'd like to do telephone advice nursing now- I'd be able to talk to 'normal' people rather than arrogant surgeons, and being able to sit for my job would be an added bonus! Because I'm disabled, it's not really feasible for me to take on any job that involves direct patient care in a hospital setting- that's another reason I'd like to explore telephone advice nursing. How do I get experience if I must already have experience to get hired? I think this is one of the worst conundrums nurses must deal with today. Anyone have any advice for me? Is there a class we can take to be more marketable as an advice nurse? Or any other type of class for a different field of nursing? Case management, Quality Assurance, discharge planning?
LilgirlRN, ADN, RN
769 Posts
Let me know when you figure it out! I've been in the ED for 19 years and I'm burnt to a crisp! I'd like to do something else I just don't know what. I thought about (and applied for, but didn't get) a job in a surgery center doing the preop stuff. Same kinda pace (in and out). I suppose when I told them I have RA they decided to to take me or maybe it's that I have years and years of experience and therefore require a bigger paycheck.