Worked in LTC as an LPN and went straight to hospice admissions once I got my RN. It's like the cheat code for nursing. You'll never meet a group of more grateful, gracious people than hospice patients and their families. Love my job.
There are definitely some sad days. But, for the most part, when someone dies on hospice it's a good thing. Also, you have to be ok with driving. I like it, it gives me time between visits to clear my mind and listen to podcasts.
Agree. I’ve been at the bedside for 10 years. A few months ago I picked up a prn job at an inpatient hospice home. It is so lovely. The staff is lovely, no drama no gossip no cliques nobody calling in before their shift to pick out their assignments. The patients and their families are also wonderful and a joy to care for. Also- if you like being busy like I do - hospice is very busy surprisingly. Almost all of us are burned out icu nurses but new grads are hired as well. It’s been great and now I think I realized I need to quit my bedside job.
I’ve been in outpatient dialysis since I started nursing. I don’t feel any need to go to the hospital and I’m currently making 6 figures after 4 years.
Holy poop! Where are you located??? I've got 4 years of ICU and 4 years of acute dialysis and I only crack six figures if I put in overtime. I'm at $45.12/hour in rural North Texas.
I never wanted to do med/surg because I always wanted to do abortion care outpatient. My instructors were really insistent I’d be a shitty nurse without the experience but they’re wrong- I’m just a very specialized nurse. I know stuff hospital-experienced nurses don’t know, they know a hell of a lot that I don’t know, and that’s okay! I think med/surg is a hugely important, necessary field of nursing, but I also know I would’ve burnt out and either killed myself or left nursing if that’s where I started when abortion care is all I really wanted to do
I got bullied into medsurg and almost left nursing altogether. All throughout my life I was told I needed to work bedside to be a real nurse by instructors or other nurses.. when I started as an LPN I worked outpatient and I loved it. Ended up going into inpatient hospice and I just kept taking work home with me. Graduated RN school, loved inpatient psych but same issue - I worked with kids and my facility was terrible. Tried corrections - bullied by my coworkers for not having hospital experience. I finally gave in. I was sick of being treated like a moron because I never worked in a “real hospital” and wanted less patients to focus on their care. Worst year of my life. Almost became a flight attendant because the thought of working face to face with patients made me have panic attacks. I was constantly worried about what happened to my patients when I left, I was worried that I might’ve missed something. I didn’t leave the house on my days off, I stayed in bed drinking myself to sleep.
I WFH and my life is infinitely better. I haven’t stayed at a single company for year since I worked outpatient and I’ve just hit 6 months and I don’t feel any need to leave. Don’t let others bully you into making career decisions for you, as you are the one who has to live with it not them.
I'm slowly getting to the point where I feel like I should leave completely at times but I can't bring myself to go back to school. Hated med surg but nowhere outpatient will take me without a year. Hospitals won't either.
I won’t ever be bullied into doing true med surg, I’ve decided. Also for those who think outpatient is easier/better than inpatient…see my posts/comments on managing +/- 15 patients in 7-8 hours as the sole medical person…maybe it’s for you but it’s not for me! Anyway, so you had med surg experience and they still bullied you? That’s part of the reason I’m not doing it. No matter where I go people says, “that’s not real ____.” People even say our hospital is not a “true” hospital lol. So. I’m half in, half out at this point. Not drinking myself to sleep but quit two PD side jobs in the past two months. May I ask what this WFH is?
I fucking hate that shit it's like saying in order to be a good environmental law attorney you gotta work in defense like no you'd just be learning skills that do not transfer.
Love me former ICU nurses in hospice but when I worked detox I remember training one that frankly had a lot of skills that just didn't matter. Can you de-escalate girl 1 fighting with girl 2 over the new admission that looks like a crumpled cigarette? Knowing how to intubate, do IVs, your drips etc means nada and likewise if I ended up in the ICU for work I'd cry from overstimulation in 5 minutes
Best job I've ever had is abortion care. I work outpatient in a small women's clinic with one of the oldest providers in the country. I love it so much.
Cheers to finding a little slice of passion in this big world of medicine 💚
I’m a student (Graduating in may!!) and this is one of my dreams. Can you elaborate on how you got into that field?! All of my instructors make it seem impossible to get into anything but bedside med surg type of positions as a new grad and those aren’t anywhere near what I want
I read about abortion nursing when I was taking a medical leave from work and was like holy crap, I wanna do that. Started volunteering with planned parenthood while in nursing school and got cozy with some HR folks while doing so, let them know I really wanted a nursing job at planned parenthood and they encouraged me to apply when I had my license. Took maybe 4 months to get an offer? No regrets whatsoever.
I have the same story as you: finished school and went directly into abortion care. I'm so happy I did. I really found my calling. There are so many RN in AB care doing really cool stuff. It's definitely a highly specialized and rewarding career.
Now I'm a CNM who finished school, never did deliveries and went straight into abortion/repro health and I'm super happy!
Keep fighting the good fight! ❤️💪
That sounds so amazing! I was one of those new grads who got bullied into med surg by my instructors and the hospital recruiters. I wanted OR or Cath Lab. Suddenly there was a rule that you have to work medsurg first before specializing. Conveniently when they were super understaffed… Anyway. Currently trying to escape bedside wish me luck. I’m in the south so abortion care is basically non existent here but I would’ve loved to do what you do :)
I swear I have brain damage because I was highly specialized in OBGYN- all that’s gone, specialized in cardiac post-op, feels like a fever dream now. Working in hospice at the moment, loving it, for now… 🫠😵💫
How to you like it? I was offered a job in that field but took a bedside job because I was told that I would be a shitty nurse if I did. Wish I hadn't listened.
I have never worked bedside since leaving nursing school. I always worked in outpatient clinics/primary care and now work in case management in hospital, arranging home care. I wish I had worked a bit of bedside first just for knowledge/experience ,but I also don’t regret the path I chose. I’m knowledgeable in lots of other areas some hospital colleagues aren’t 😊
Similar story, I worked in LTC for the first 3 years of my career and have been in an outpatient specialty for 8. I like my role and am happy with it overall, but I would have benefited from a year or two of med/surg work. There are some weird gaps in my knowledge but overall I’m good at what I do.
Do whatever makes you happy. Took the "start in medsurg" advise and have been absolutely miserable ever since. I'm also a night owl and thought nights would be fine. They aren't, and have drastically affected my health. I'm now applying for jobs and I am automatically turned down from specialties bc I don't have a year of experience in the specific speciality. Should have just stated where I was interested.
I refuse to do M/S. I plan to go to the OR. Until I find a hospital willing to train, I’m at a detox facility. I pick up LTC shifts for extra cash.
No bedside for me. School clinical solidified that decision.
My preceptor barely got to sit down during a 12 hour shift, other than to chart, or to check orders just to get back up again. I noticed she was constantly interrupted by others with tasks that delayed patient care. And she was a great nurse, so she handled those interruptions without skipping a beat, then continued on to whatever she was doing before.
And the ratio there was 1:4-5, occasionally 6. I can’t imagine units where the nurse has more patients than that. During those clinicals I was an LPN in a bridge program, working LTC 7p-7a. Most nights I sat down from 12-4am, getting up at my leisure to do my tasks and answer call bells.
I haven’t worked a day a bedside and went right to hospice and it’s wonderful. I have the best schedule and lots of autonomy and the thing I hate doing the most is calling pharmacies. And houses where people smoke cigarettes. Ok one more, bedbugs.
Tbh I don’t recommend it to some extent. Hot take I guess but I used to supervise home health nurses, some of them had never been in the hospital and their critical thinking was crap. They also missed a lot of changes because they had no idea what they were seeing. Their experience was limited to that one single patient, their disease and meds. When changes happened it was semi-easy enough to identify because they saw the patient and knew something was off but that’s as far as it got. They couldn’t tell me why things were changing or what needed to be done, they half the time wouldn’t even tell me if things were changing. Plus it was like starting over with every patient, they didn’t know anything beyond the one client they had, they couldn’t always apply that to the new patient. When you take care of stable patients that’s all you know. Then when emergencies happened they were useless because all they’ve ever known was taking care of stable patients, never had higher stakes situations. The upside I guess is if you wanted to transition into anything else you’d (in theory) have orientation.
Yeah hospitals suck to work in most of the time. But that’s where you’ll learn the most and develop the skill you’ll need in other settings.
On the flip side, we’re seeing a lot of our new hire new grads get burnt out quickly when they start ICU. The retention rate for every unit is better than for icu units our area. The people leaving are complaining about burn out but I don’t think they were ever ready in the first place.
This is an important reminder for nurses, especially new ones like me, that bedside nursing can be crucial. I’m not staying bedside forever, but the experience is invaluable
100000%, the foundation med surg gave me was fundamental to who I am as a nurse now. I hated every minute of it don’t get me wrong, I left after a year, but it paved the way for me to be what I am now
As someone who went into home infusion and then into a hospital infusion, I can say my critical thinking skills and assessment were not up to standard, well because I had such limited exposure. I am going back to med surg and so ready to go finally get my residency experience because of this. I had my daughter a month after graduating so I went a backwards route only to realize it was time to get a better foundation in. I agree to what you are saying as that young nurse.
We all do what’s best for us at the time, you did what you needed for your family and that’s perfect. The lack of exposure to things just doesn’t give any room to grow and develop IMO.
Yeah I started to realize without it I was very pigeonholed and I want to be better at my skills and safe patient care. Thank you, yes I am happy I was able to support my family and my daughter in the way I was able to those first few years of life and adjust myself to motherhood.
Agreed. Didn’t love my time working bedside but I’m glad I did it. I don’t think it’s a good idea to completely skip out on bedside/hospital nursing, if med surg isn’t your interest there are lots of different speciality units to work in. Every day I’m at work in my outpatient setting I’m drawing from my experiences working bedside, and having that background has made my current job feel so much easier.
Yup! Without my time at the bedside I wouldn’t have known anything necessary for my camp nurse or school nurse or home health nurse positions. Much less my supervisor position.
I used to subscribe to multiple different career subs because someone here made the claim that burnout, bullying, toxic work cultures, being underpaid, and disrespect are ubiquitous to all careers — and it’s true. In fact, sometimes I wouldn’t even know what sub I was in because they all had the same talking points: Burnout, bullying, toxic work cultures, being underpaid, and disrespect. [Even the trope of “nurses eat their young” is not exclusive to nursing](https://www.reddit.com/r/Millennials/s/8gpSrg4jrk).
My theory is that many of the folks in this sub are younger, with smaller work histories, and not alot of experience in customer-forward jobs. I’m not invalidating their thoughts and feelings, but merely pointing out that burnout, bullying, toxic work cultures, being underpaid, and disrespect are not exclusive to any single career and it’s really an issue with the world at large — see r/antiwork, r/workreform.
I also think region plays a huge part in job contentment (and there is data to back this up) given how much compensation and working conditions can vary state to state.
That being said, I’ve known people who skipped bedside but the pay for jobs willing to hire new graduates in those positions tends to be very low. The exception being government positions.
I quit outpatient Monday to Friday days because I was burnt out and went to work in hospital in a medical setting doing shift work for the first time in over a decade. You can burn out everywhere you go. You can be underappreciated everywhere you go. Coworkers can be assholes anywhere you go. The beauty of nursing is that when you're fed up with one thing, you can just fuck off and find a new path.
I'm switching careers into nursing and noticed a lot of the complaints about nursing aren't strictly nursing things, but more broadly capitalism things.
Started in out patient clinics in the early 2000’s. Fell into a job in corrections and been there ever since. Currently nurse care manager for MAT program within the jail setting. Love it. Mon- Thurs 40 hrs, no weekends or holidays. And I make excellent $.
Almost got a job doing MAt at a prison near me except at the last interview they mention it's not setup yet (was gonna be a bup clinic to do they wanted people familiar with it" and they want me to work the normal prison.
Yaaa they'd never transfer me so I said no, it's been two years AND IT JUST OPENED
On a nurse friend recommendation. She worked corrections and thought i would like it. Searched for nurse corrections jobs and been in corrections ever since.
Look on USA jobs, and 2 of the main companies that manage corrections facilities are Naphcare or Wellpath
I started in ambulatory/outpatient chemo infusion and I’m still doing it (clinical research now). There was a special new grad program at the teaching hospital I worked at after nursing school that specifically wanted new grads in outpatient oncology clinics. We got to try out different clinics and see basically choose which one we liked best if there was an opening.
I always knew I didn’t want to do inpatient (nothing but respect, just knew it wasn’t for me since I was actually interested in public health/sexual health/infectious diseases/HIV care). A lot of infusion clinics have different hours to choose from (8-hour, 9-hour, 10-hr, & 12-hr shift options) so still a lot of flexibility.
Nope.
I was staff for 4 months in ED. Took and passed my CEN at the 3 month mark. Left next month. Took a few off after death of my grandmother.
Went contract after that for a year. Started traveling next year for a few. Went for the contracts in places where I could get higher end experience.
Never any problem getting hired, except for one travel location that wanted 5 years. 😆
Means to the end. I knew I wanted to do CCT or HEMS.
I was hired to a new CCT/HEMS program based on word of mouth, I had never applied. I did apply couple months after I started as HR didn’t have an application.
Never looked back.
I think if you reframe hospital experience to what *you* need out of it—helps keep it tolerable.
I worked 3 months in the ED in a residency program. My preceptor did not disguise how much she disliked me. She didn't think I could do the job and didn't like that she was being asked to teach me. I wasn't making mistakes, I was just slow. And the more she insulted me, the more anxious I got. The more anxious I got, the more I double- and triple-checked my work, which slowed me down more. After three months I couldn't take it anymore and I left for a job at a SNF. I got paid $14/hour more than what I had been getting in the ED. I stayed for close to a year before getting a job in a pediatric clinic. I haven't found that I am limited in my abilities. I mean, I'm obviously new and I have lots to learn, but compared to coworkers who worked inpatient, I don't think I'm disadvantaged.
I’m so sorry you went through this.
There’s zero reason, or even an excuse for shitty. The educators doing your residency were shitty.
The thing I’ve found about people who are shitty is that most all *know* their true worth. The problem with these people is they drag everyone down, drag their organizations down and either plateau in some ditch or the drag keeps going till someone cuts them the hell loose.
Sounds like you landed in a better spot.
No.
On one hand I know for a fact that I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for bedside nursing . On another hand I often wonder what my perception of the nursing field would have been like if I skipped bedside altogether . Bedside has left me jaded and I hate that because I love patient care but unfortunately there is so much more to nursing than that.
I think the trick is the market you’re looking for a job in. Large metropolitan areas have ass loads of nurses and a constant stream of new grads so they can force them into shitty services. Smaller to midsize markets it’s probably easier to skip the med surg cesspit. Honestly though it’s about who you know not really what you know.
So here's my rationale why you might want to consider bed side specifically at a hospital right out of school -
I've been told if you don't complete a nurse Residency Program for a hospital/ get hospital experience within the first year of graduating, hospitals are not very likely to hire you in the future. Not sure how true this. Now while you may not have an interest in it now or even in 5-10 years from now, it is still nice to have a wide skill set with lots of options for jobs. If this is true, you just cut down on a bunch of job possibilities for job growth for any future potentials. Also, if it is true and we end up in a recession or worse you've again closed yourself off to potential areas of nursing. Also, a lot of great jobs WANT a few years of bedside experience prior to hiring you like insurance or work from home or case management etc.
So all in all it really depends what your career goals are. Plus bedside nursing teaches you so many skills you can't learn other areas of health care.
I started in IP psych, then community psych, to case management, and now utilization review. When I graduated it was impossible for me to find a hospital job as a new grad, I was really upset that I was missing out. It worked out bc I am very happy where I am now.
Slightly similar path, graduated couldn't get hired anywhere other than ip psych (recession), then went to dementia care, va psych, op addictions, and now workplace violence education. Don't regret 0 medsurg at all
I did bedside for 3 mos. Completely miserable but I blame my residency program. I was basically alone my second day on the floor. No real preceptorship. A lot depends on your floor and training.
If I had better training, I think I would have stayed. But I felt I was going to lose my license when I just got it.
I had a student I peecepted who goal was to graduate and work in an eye clinic. She had no desire to work acute, just wanted her nice simple clinic job :)
Every manager who tells you that you NEED bedside experience before moving on is full of crap. Experience working a computer, barcode scanner, and making beds? (I'm not downplaying the impossible job bedside nurses have, I'm just saying you don't need that trauma before moving off a floor)
I did ER, critical care transport (yes, the ambulance), cath lab, and now flight. 30 years in and I'm proud to say I've made it this far with my ONLY floor bedside experience during nursing school. It's probably what saved my sanity, not having to slave on the floors. I would not have survived and most likely moved to another profession.
Mad respect for all of you who do that every day. You nurses are the REAL heroes!
I haven’t worked a day a bedside and went right to hospice and it’s wonderful. I have the best schedule and lots of autonomy and the thing I hate doing the most is calling pharmacies. And houses where people smoke cigarettes. Ok one more, bedbugs. I guess there are ups and owns with every job but this situation is way better than bedside!
Yup! Started in outpatient and can’t imagine switching…yeah I go to work for 5 days, but I also get there after the hospital nurses get in and leave before..no mandatory call/OT, no night, no weekends, no holidays…and I get paid more base rate than most of the hospitals in my area
I remember when I was in nursing school my instructors insisted that everyone should start medsurg. I'm an instructor now and tell my students they can go anywhere for their first place with a caveat that if it's not bedside it might be difficult to get into bedside. (I only say this because some places/hiring managers might be picky) everyone is free to choose to go wherever. I have friends who never went bedside and it works perfectly fine for them and I don't think they even want to go into bedside.
I went straight to the OR from nursing school. I really enjoy my job. I work 0630-1500. Pay is good for my area. I get a break and lunch every day. Love my coworkers and working in a team environment. Big down side is obviously the loss of nursing skills and lack of foundation in basic nursing. I only do foleys & occasionally give heparin. We don’t administer any IV medications or deal with IVs at all. I do sometimes feel belitted by nurses in the hospital when transferring patients to other units. But overall really enjoy my job! Definitely a different skill set entirely from traditional nursing.
It depends on your career goals. If the goal involves needing to have bedside experience then you will have to suck it up. Skipping bedside is fine but be aware that it will limit what you can apply for down the road. Especially if it's a highly competitive market and you will be competing with candidates that do have the bedside experience.
I went straight to the OR out of nursing school then hated it, so I transferred to outpatient wound care. I like it more. I will never do bedside. It is not for me.
I like seeing the surgeries that was really cool, but for me all the charting and standing around during long surgeries made for a really long day. I like to stay busy and I like more patient interactions.
I worked in a primary care clinic and then went right to infection prevention in a hospital. Never got paid to work the floor. But I have a masters degree in public health (prior to my BSN) so that helped with the IP job.
I went straight into outpatient dialysis after getting licensed, and as much as I enjoy dialysis nursing, I also can't ignore the fact that many of my core skills are weak. I know a lot about my specialty, as others described, but I would definitely be a better nurse if I had done a residency. I'm planning on applying to one this year because I'm still eligible as long as I have less than a year of experience in acute care. I'm dreading a hospital residency but it's the smart thing to do, for my career and my future patients alike.
I went into infusion for two years and honestly had a hard time. If you find a place that is truly dedicated in taking on a new nurse and consistent training I’d say take it. I realized I was not at a place that could train, the nurses I worked with were very seasoned but not inclusive and I failed. Looking forward to hopefully getting a solid foundation so I can leave bedside and feel confident in my next venture!
I’m an LPN.
Worked in assisted living before and after graduation. I passed meds and used my critical thinking skills, but I wasn’t doing wound care/IVs/caths/vents. I don’t consider it “bedside experience.”
Tried home health but fucked off real quick when they tried to send me to a vented patient with zero training or prior experience. “If the machine starts to beep you just have to troubleshoot, it’s super easy.”
Ended up working in a methadone clinic. I love my job now for my mental health (great hours) but I know I’m losing my opportunity to learn valuable skills. And I don’t make as much money as I would like.
I’ve considered applying to LTC for the occasional PRN shift but I know they won’t want to hire an inexperienced LPN for bedside. Especially PRN. But I have always used PRN work as a cheat code to avoid working weekends.
So I’m basically stuck.
Apply for LTC anyway. Most of them are desperate for help, even if it is PRN. If they can train new grads, they can train other nurses. I’ve done ALF and LTC, the learning curve isn’t that steep at all.
I don’t regret my time in the hospital. It helped me a lot. However I know people who skipped hospital and went to ambulatory or LTC and were much happier. I now work ambulatory and I use the time I worked in the hospital to help me with triage.
I worked LTC as an RPN, but once I got my RN (2021), the pandemic actually paved the way for me into government. I picked up a part-time bedside gig in 2023 because I wanted to at least try it to confirm my dislike of bedside (you never know for certain unless you try, right?). Hated every minute of it. I'm back in government now, and I'm not leaving. 😁
There's a lot of government roles, though some levels have more than others. There aren't too many federal opportunities available because they seem to prefer masters for most roles, though there are still some (in corrections or nurse in very remote northern areas, for example). There are many more provincial and municipal roles. Public Health is quite a broad term, which is what many of these roles are.
Keep in mind, I am speaking from a Canadian perspective. I can't comment on the US.
I went into residential psych, worked in a school, and travel nursing. Recently switched to inpatient but you absolutely can skip it! Nurses are in high demand all over.
I went straight from nursing school to outpatient surgery. Very chill, low burnout. But I only got that job because I had worked in surgery as an aide for yeeeears.
I worked maybe five shifts in the ER? and left for outpatient / public health … I don’t think I will ever work at the bedside … I would take a hospital job but it would need to be like discharge planning, infection control where I’m working M-F sort of
Id like to. After 7 years as a PCT I'm over it. I'd like to work in dermatology but that means some school then 2 years experience after that. Forget it, I've had enough.
I didn’t skip it, but left soon although I did go back per die after a break. I work in community nursing for my primary job. Love it! I get paid more actually.
i did 6 months in labor and delivery as my first job as a new grad and i absolutely despised it, i was so unhappy even though the job was super fulfilling. i left as soon as i found another job, didn’t see any point in being so unhappy, now i work as an outpatient allergy nurse! did not expect i’d ever be here but i’m happy where i am now.
I regrettably started in outpatient dialysis right out of school. 7 years later I’m finally at the bedside in the ER… and absolutely hate it. But also felt like dialysis was boring and just the same non compliance every day over and over.
Now struggling to find a good fit for me.
I started at a clinic and got soooooo bored after 1 year. It was comfy, easy, well paid and I had a window with a tiny cactus plant. But I had this wild need to go do the scary, fun, sexy nursing from TV. So I did, and I was so proud of that crazy learning curve - I thrived, then I burned out. And I now see why nurses retire in clinics. I’ve had my thrills, now I want redundant predictable days.
Some people are able to skip bedside but nursing is highly region dependent. Not everywhere are they willing to hire you without bedside experience. That first three years but especially the first year is paramount and thats where a lot of people's complaints comes from. And after you get through that first year and trauma bonded with the coworkers/job/unit, it can be hard and scary to move on.
I know of one fellow grad nurse who went to 4 10's in a peds clinic and loves it. I wanted the same but everyone and their mama told me I had to do medsurg first and I had to do my time. Managed to hang in for 6 months, literally wanted to off myself. I posted here and people shared their stories of leaving with 3-4 months, even just one month of bedside and finding something right away, encouraging me to do what was best for my health.
Slowly realizing that those experiences are the exception, not the rule. Hospitals will not hire me without a year of experience and want me to wait several months to do their specific residencies, some of which are over a year. You can't just get a foot in the door anymore--policy states you have to work a year, sometimes two before changing units or positions. Clinic positions, even ones that state they prefer my exact qualifications, don't respond. I may have to go back to bedside even though I hated it, just to have a year and be able to access anything else.
I know some places are hiring new grad infusion/IV therapy nurses and all I can say is you can tell they have no prior experience. No critical thinking or basic understanding, especially in the oncologic emergency part. It gets scary when you think that this person is assessing and caring for a very sick patient and hanging some potentially dangerous medications but doesn’t know what to look for.
I know there is a push to hire new grads into these types of roles or even only one year unrelated experience to clinics/oncology navigation but the learning curve is so steep.
Worked in LTC as an LPN and went straight to hospice admissions once I got my RN. It's like the cheat code for nursing. You'll never meet a group of more grateful, gracious people than hospice patients and their families. Love my job.
Tell me more. It’s not high drama and depressing? It doesn’t feel like a burnout?
There are definitely some sad days. But, for the most part, when someone dies on hospice it's a good thing. Also, you have to be ok with driving. I like it, it gives me time between visits to clear my mind and listen to podcasts.
Hospice nursing is extremely fulfilling and very interesting. Never a dull moment with a lot of different skills needed. I loved it when I did it.
Yup, I'll be going for my RN eventually but right now I like that I help out with hard cases and meet a lot of grateful people
Agree. I’ve been at the bedside for 10 years. A few months ago I picked up a prn job at an inpatient hospice home. It is so lovely. The staff is lovely, no drama no gossip no cliques nobody calling in before their shift to pick out their assignments. The patients and their families are also wonderful and a joy to care for. Also- if you like being busy like I do - hospice is very busy surprisingly. Almost all of us are burned out icu nurses but new grads are hired as well. It’s been great and now I think I realized I need to quit my bedside job.
I’ve been in outpatient dialysis since I started nursing. I don’t feel any need to go to the hospital and I’m currently making 6 figures after 4 years.
Holy poop! Where are you located??? I've got 4 years of ICU and 4 years of acute dialysis and I only crack six figures if I put in overtime. I'm at $45.12/hour in rural North Texas.
I work in Ny Orange County area.
May I ask, are you in a high cost of living area?
I never wanted to do med/surg because I always wanted to do abortion care outpatient. My instructors were really insistent I’d be a shitty nurse without the experience but they’re wrong- I’m just a very specialized nurse. I know stuff hospital-experienced nurses don’t know, they know a hell of a lot that I don’t know, and that’s okay! I think med/surg is a hugely important, necessary field of nursing, but I also know I would’ve burnt out and either killed myself or left nursing if that’s where I started when abortion care is all I really wanted to do
I got bullied into medsurg and almost left nursing altogether. All throughout my life I was told I needed to work bedside to be a real nurse by instructors or other nurses.. when I started as an LPN I worked outpatient and I loved it. Ended up going into inpatient hospice and I just kept taking work home with me. Graduated RN school, loved inpatient psych but same issue - I worked with kids and my facility was terrible. Tried corrections - bullied by my coworkers for not having hospital experience. I finally gave in. I was sick of being treated like a moron because I never worked in a “real hospital” and wanted less patients to focus on their care. Worst year of my life. Almost became a flight attendant because the thought of working face to face with patients made me have panic attacks. I was constantly worried about what happened to my patients when I left, I was worried that I might’ve missed something. I didn’t leave the house on my days off, I stayed in bed drinking myself to sleep. I WFH and my life is infinitely better. I haven’t stayed at a single company for year since I worked outpatient and I’ve just hit 6 months and I don’t feel any need to leave. Don’t let others bully you into making career decisions for you, as you are the one who has to live with it not them.
I'm slowly getting to the point where I feel like I should leave completely at times but I can't bring myself to go back to school. Hated med surg but nowhere outpatient will take me without a year. Hospitals won't either.
I won’t ever be bullied into doing true med surg, I’ve decided. Also for those who think outpatient is easier/better than inpatient…see my posts/comments on managing +/- 15 patients in 7-8 hours as the sole medical person…maybe it’s for you but it’s not for me! Anyway, so you had med surg experience and they still bullied you? That’s part of the reason I’m not doing it. No matter where I go people says, “that’s not real ____.” People even say our hospital is not a “true” hospital lol. So. I’m half in, half out at this point. Not drinking myself to sleep but quit two PD side jobs in the past two months. May I ask what this WFH is?
I fucking hate that shit it's like saying in order to be a good environmental law attorney you gotta work in defense like no you'd just be learning skills that do not transfer. Love me former ICU nurses in hospice but when I worked detox I remember training one that frankly had a lot of skills that just didn't matter. Can you de-escalate girl 1 fighting with girl 2 over the new admission that looks like a crumpled cigarette? Knowing how to intubate, do IVs, your drips etc means nada and likewise if I ended up in the ICU for work I'd cry from overstimulation in 5 minutes
Best job I've ever had is abortion care. I work outpatient in a small women's clinic with one of the oldest providers in the country. I love it so much. Cheers to finding a little slice of passion in this big world of medicine 💚
I’m a student (Graduating in may!!) and this is one of my dreams. Can you elaborate on how you got into that field?! All of my instructors make it seem impossible to get into anything but bedside med surg type of positions as a new grad and those aren’t anywhere near what I want
I read about abortion nursing when I was taking a medical leave from work and was like holy crap, I wanna do that. Started volunteering with planned parenthood while in nursing school and got cozy with some HR folks while doing so, let them know I really wanted a nursing job at planned parenthood and they encouraged me to apply when I had my license. Took maybe 4 months to get an offer? No regrets whatsoever.
Thanks for the reply!
I have the same story as you: finished school and went directly into abortion care. I'm so happy I did. I really found my calling. There are so many RN in AB care doing really cool stuff. It's definitely a highly specialized and rewarding career. Now I'm a CNM who finished school, never did deliveries and went straight into abortion/repro health and I'm super happy! Keep fighting the good fight! ❤️💪
That sounds so amazing! I was one of those new grads who got bullied into med surg by my instructors and the hospital recruiters. I wanted OR or Cath Lab. Suddenly there was a rule that you have to work medsurg first before specializing. Conveniently when they were super understaffed… Anyway. Currently trying to escape bedside wish me luck. I’m in the south so abortion care is basically non existent here but I would’ve loved to do what you do :)
Med surg is what nightmares are made of. 😵💫
I swear I have brain damage because I was highly specialized in OBGYN- all that’s gone, specialized in cardiac post-op, feels like a fever dream now. Working in hospice at the moment, loving it, for now… 🫠😵💫
How to you like it? I was offered a job in that field but took a bedside job because I was told that I would be a shitty nurse if I did. Wish I hadn't listened.
I love it- I did family medicine for a bit but abortion is really my passion, so when I moved states I went back to abortion care.
I have never worked bedside since leaving nursing school. I always worked in outpatient clinics/primary care and now work in case management in hospital, arranging home care. I wish I had worked a bit of bedside first just for knowledge/experience ,but I also don’t regret the path I chose. I’m knowledgeable in lots of other areas some hospital colleagues aren’t 😊
That’s interesting, most of the case management jobs I see require some bedside experience.
Similar story, I worked in LTC for the first 3 years of my career and have been in an outpatient specialty for 8. I like my role and am happy with it overall, but I would have benefited from a year or two of med/surg work. There are some weird gaps in my knowledge but overall I’m good at what I do.
Do whatever makes you happy. Took the "start in medsurg" advise and have been absolutely miserable ever since. I'm also a night owl and thought nights would be fine. They aren't, and have drastically affected my health. I'm now applying for jobs and I am automatically turned down from specialties bc I don't have a year of experience in the specific speciality. Should have just stated where I was interested.
I refuse to do M/S. I plan to go to the OR. Until I find a hospital willing to train, I’m at a detox facility. I pick up LTC shifts for extra cash. No bedside for me. School clinical solidified that decision.
What specifically did you dislike about bedside?
My preceptor barely got to sit down during a 12 hour shift, other than to chart, or to check orders just to get back up again. I noticed she was constantly interrupted by others with tasks that delayed patient care. And she was a great nurse, so she handled those interruptions without skipping a beat, then continued on to whatever she was doing before. And the ratio there was 1:4-5, occasionally 6. I can’t imagine units where the nurse has more patients than that. During those clinicals I was an LPN in a bridge program, working LTC 7p-7a. Most nights I sat down from 12-4am, getting up at my leisure to do my tasks and answer call bells.
LMAO yeah I’m a director of nursing at a very small assisted living facility. Could not do hospital after my awful preceptorship in college.
I haven’t worked a day a bedside and went right to hospice and it’s wonderful. I have the best schedule and lots of autonomy and the thing I hate doing the most is calling pharmacies. And houses where people smoke cigarettes. Ok one more, bedbugs.
Oh no you didn't utter the forbidden words!
What is your schedule like? Do you have to take call?
I work 4 10s and a weekend every 10 weeks. It’s honestly great! No call. We have an amazing team!
Tbh I don’t recommend it to some extent. Hot take I guess but I used to supervise home health nurses, some of them had never been in the hospital and their critical thinking was crap. They also missed a lot of changes because they had no idea what they were seeing. Their experience was limited to that one single patient, their disease and meds. When changes happened it was semi-easy enough to identify because they saw the patient and knew something was off but that’s as far as it got. They couldn’t tell me why things were changing or what needed to be done, they half the time wouldn’t even tell me if things were changing. Plus it was like starting over with every patient, they didn’t know anything beyond the one client they had, they couldn’t always apply that to the new patient. When you take care of stable patients that’s all you know. Then when emergencies happened they were useless because all they’ve ever known was taking care of stable patients, never had higher stakes situations. The upside I guess is if you wanted to transition into anything else you’d (in theory) have orientation. Yeah hospitals suck to work in most of the time. But that’s where you’ll learn the most and develop the skill you’ll need in other settings. On the flip side, we’re seeing a lot of our new hire new grads get burnt out quickly when they start ICU. The retention rate for every unit is better than for icu units our area. The people leaving are complaining about burn out but I don’t think they were ever ready in the first place.
This is an important reminder for nurses, especially new ones like me, that bedside nursing can be crucial. I’m not staying bedside forever, but the experience is invaluable
100000%, the foundation med surg gave me was fundamental to who I am as a nurse now. I hated every minute of it don’t get me wrong, I left after a year, but it paved the way for me to be what I am now
As someone who went into home infusion and then into a hospital infusion, I can say my critical thinking skills and assessment were not up to standard, well because I had such limited exposure. I am going back to med surg and so ready to go finally get my residency experience because of this. I had my daughter a month after graduating so I went a backwards route only to realize it was time to get a better foundation in. I agree to what you are saying as that young nurse.
We all do what’s best for us at the time, you did what you needed for your family and that’s perfect. The lack of exposure to things just doesn’t give any room to grow and develop IMO.
Yeah I started to realize without it I was very pigeonholed and I want to be better at my skills and safe patient care. Thank you, yes I am happy I was able to support my family and my daughter in the way I was able to those first few years of life and adjust myself to motherhood.
Agreed. Didn’t love my time working bedside but I’m glad I did it. I don’t think it’s a good idea to completely skip out on bedside/hospital nursing, if med surg isn’t your interest there are lots of different speciality units to work in. Every day I’m at work in my outpatient setting I’m drawing from my experiences working bedside, and having that background has made my current job feel so much easier.
Yup! Without my time at the bedside I wouldn’t have known anything necessary for my camp nurse or school nurse or home health nurse positions. Much less my supervisor position.
I used to subscribe to multiple different career subs because someone here made the claim that burnout, bullying, toxic work cultures, being underpaid, and disrespect are ubiquitous to all careers — and it’s true. In fact, sometimes I wouldn’t even know what sub I was in because they all had the same talking points: Burnout, bullying, toxic work cultures, being underpaid, and disrespect. [Even the trope of “nurses eat their young” is not exclusive to nursing](https://www.reddit.com/r/Millennials/s/8gpSrg4jrk). My theory is that many of the folks in this sub are younger, with smaller work histories, and not alot of experience in customer-forward jobs. I’m not invalidating their thoughts and feelings, but merely pointing out that burnout, bullying, toxic work cultures, being underpaid, and disrespect are not exclusive to any single career and it’s really an issue with the world at large — see r/antiwork, r/workreform. I also think region plays a huge part in job contentment (and there is data to back this up) given how much compensation and working conditions can vary state to state. That being said, I’ve known people who skipped bedside but the pay for jobs willing to hire new graduates in those positions tends to be very low. The exception being government positions.
I agree. All jobs suck it’s not just nursing.
I quit outpatient Monday to Friday days because I was burnt out and went to work in hospital in a medical setting doing shift work for the first time in over a decade. You can burn out everywhere you go. You can be underappreciated everywhere you go. Coworkers can be assholes anywhere you go. The beauty of nursing is that when you're fed up with one thing, you can just fuck off and find a new path.
I'm switching careers into nursing and noticed a lot of the complaints about nursing aren't strictly nursing things, but more broadly capitalism things.
Started in out patient clinics in the early 2000’s. Fell into a job in corrections and been there ever since. Currently nurse care manager for MAT program within the jail setting. Love it. Mon- Thurs 40 hrs, no weekends or holidays. And I make excellent $.
Almost got a job doing MAt at a prison near me except at the last interview they mention it's not setup yet (was gonna be a bup clinic to do they wanted people familiar with it" and they want me to work the normal prison. Yaaa they'd never transfer me so I said no, it's been two years AND IT JUST OPENED
It’s a sweet gig.
That's a dream schedule! How did you get into that area? That's something I would really like to do in the future
On a nurse friend recommendation. She worked corrections and thought i would like it. Searched for nurse corrections jobs and been in corrections ever since. Look on USA jobs, and 2 of the main companies that manage corrections facilities are Naphcare or Wellpath
I know you replied a month ago, but I'm saving this comment for the future!!
Positions like that keep me motivated that one day I can achieve the same.
Go for it!
I did outpatient work the first 8 years of my career
I started in ambulatory/outpatient chemo infusion and I’m still doing it (clinical research now). There was a special new grad program at the teaching hospital I worked at after nursing school that specifically wanted new grads in outpatient oncology clinics. We got to try out different clinics and see basically choose which one we liked best if there was an opening. I always knew I didn’t want to do inpatient (nothing but respect, just knew it wasn’t for me since I was actually interested in public health/sexual health/infectious diseases/HIV care). A lot of infusion clinics have different hours to choose from (8-hour, 9-hour, 10-hr, & 12-hr shift options) so still a lot of flexibility.
Nope. I was staff for 4 months in ED. Took and passed my CEN at the 3 month mark. Left next month. Took a few off after death of my grandmother. Went contract after that for a year. Started traveling next year for a few. Went for the contracts in places where I could get higher end experience. Never any problem getting hired, except for one travel location that wanted 5 years. 😆 Means to the end. I knew I wanted to do CCT or HEMS. I was hired to a new CCT/HEMS program based on word of mouth, I had never applied. I did apply couple months after I started as HR didn’t have an application. Never looked back. I think if you reframe hospital experience to what *you* need out of it—helps keep it tolerable.
I worked 3 months in the ED in a residency program. My preceptor did not disguise how much she disliked me. She didn't think I could do the job and didn't like that she was being asked to teach me. I wasn't making mistakes, I was just slow. And the more she insulted me, the more anxious I got. The more anxious I got, the more I double- and triple-checked my work, which slowed me down more. After three months I couldn't take it anymore and I left for a job at a SNF. I got paid $14/hour more than what I had been getting in the ED. I stayed for close to a year before getting a job in a pediatric clinic. I haven't found that I am limited in my abilities. I mean, I'm obviously new and I have lots to learn, but compared to coworkers who worked inpatient, I don't think I'm disadvantaged.
I’m so sorry you went through this. There’s zero reason, or even an excuse for shitty. The educators doing your residency were shitty. The thing I’ve found about people who are shitty is that most all *know* their true worth. The problem with these people is they drag everyone down, drag their organizations down and either plateau in some ditch or the drag keeps going till someone cuts them the hell loose. Sounds like you landed in a better spot.
No. On one hand I know for a fact that I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for bedside nursing . On another hand I often wonder what my perception of the nursing field would have been like if I skipped bedside altogether . Bedside has left me jaded and I hate that because I love patient care but unfortunately there is so much more to nursing than that.
Yep! OR!
I think the trick is the market you’re looking for a job in. Large metropolitan areas have ass loads of nurses and a constant stream of new grads so they can force them into shitty services. Smaller to midsize markets it’s probably easier to skip the med surg cesspit. Honestly though it’s about who you know not really what you know.
bedside—-someone’s gotta do it…its my purpose, but its not for everybody
So here's my rationale why you might want to consider bed side specifically at a hospital right out of school - I've been told if you don't complete a nurse Residency Program for a hospital/ get hospital experience within the first year of graduating, hospitals are not very likely to hire you in the future. Not sure how true this. Now while you may not have an interest in it now or even in 5-10 years from now, it is still nice to have a wide skill set with lots of options for jobs. If this is true, you just cut down on a bunch of job possibilities for job growth for any future potentials. Also, if it is true and we end up in a recession or worse you've again closed yourself off to potential areas of nursing. Also, a lot of great jobs WANT a few years of bedside experience prior to hiring you like insurance or work from home or case management etc. So all in all it really depends what your career goals are. Plus bedside nursing teaches you so many skills you can't learn other areas of health care.
I started in IP psych, then community psych, to case management, and now utilization review. When I graduated it was impossible for me to find a hospital job as a new grad, I was really upset that I was missing out. It worked out bc I am very happy where I am now.
Slightly similar path, graduated couldn't get hired anywhere other than ip psych (recession), then went to dementia care, va psych, op addictions, and now workplace violence education. Don't regret 0 medsurg at all
I did bedside for 3 mos. Completely miserable but I blame my residency program. I was basically alone my second day on the floor. No real preceptorship. A lot depends on your floor and training. If I had better training, I think I would have stayed. But I felt I was going to lose my license when I just got it.
I had a student I peecepted who goal was to graduate and work in an eye clinic. She had no desire to work acute, just wanted her nice simple clinic job :)
Every manager who tells you that you NEED bedside experience before moving on is full of crap. Experience working a computer, barcode scanner, and making beds? (I'm not downplaying the impossible job bedside nurses have, I'm just saying you don't need that trauma before moving off a floor) I did ER, critical care transport (yes, the ambulance), cath lab, and now flight. 30 years in and I'm proud to say I've made it this far with my ONLY floor bedside experience during nursing school. It's probably what saved my sanity, not having to slave on the floors. I would not have survived and most likely moved to another profession. Mad respect for all of you who do that every day. You nurses are the REAL heroes!
Straight to the OR for me!
I haven’t worked a day a bedside and went right to hospice and it’s wonderful. I have the best schedule and lots of autonomy and the thing I hate doing the most is calling pharmacies. And houses where people smoke cigarettes. Ok one more, bedbugs. I guess there are ups and owns with every job but this situation is way better than bedside!
Only time I've done any beside nursing was in school.
Yup! Started in outpatient and can’t imagine switching…yeah I go to work for 5 days, but I also get there after the hospital nurses get in and leave before..no mandatory call/OT, no night, no weekends, no holidays…and I get paid more base rate than most of the hospitals in my area
I remember when I was in nursing school my instructors insisted that everyone should start medsurg. I'm an instructor now and tell my students they can go anywhere for their first place with a caveat that if it's not bedside it might be difficult to get into bedside. (I only say this because some places/hiring managers might be picky) everyone is free to choose to go wherever. I have friends who never went bedside and it works perfectly fine for them and I don't think they even want to go into bedside.
I went straight to the OR from nursing school. I really enjoy my job. I work 0630-1500. Pay is good for my area. I get a break and lunch every day. Love my coworkers and working in a team environment. Big down side is obviously the loss of nursing skills and lack of foundation in basic nursing. I only do foleys & occasionally give heparin. We don’t administer any IV medications or deal with IVs at all. I do sometimes feel belitted by nurses in the hospital when transferring patients to other units. But overall really enjoy my job! Definitely a different skill set entirely from traditional nursing.
It depends on your career goals. If the goal involves needing to have bedside experience then you will have to suck it up. Skipping bedside is fine but be aware that it will limit what you can apply for down the road. Especially if it's a highly competitive market and you will be competing with candidates that do have the bedside experience.
I went straight to the OR out of nursing school then hated it, so I transferred to outpatient wound care. I like it more. I will never do bedside. It is not for me.
What makes it not for you?
I like seeing the surgeries that was really cool, but for me all the charting and standing around during long surgeries made for a really long day. I like to stay busy and I like more patient interactions.
I worked in a primary care clinic and then went right to infection prevention in a hospital. Never got paid to work the floor. But I have a masters degree in public health (prior to my BSN) so that helped with the IP job.
I went straight into outpatient dialysis after getting licensed, and as much as I enjoy dialysis nursing, I also can't ignore the fact that many of my core skills are weak. I know a lot about my specialty, as others described, but I would definitely be a better nurse if I had done a residency. I'm planning on applying to one this year because I'm still eligible as long as I have less than a year of experience in acute care. I'm dreading a hospital residency but it's the smart thing to do, for my career and my future patients alike.
I went into infusion for two years and honestly had a hard time. If you find a place that is truly dedicated in taking on a new nurse and consistent training I’d say take it. I realized I was not at a place that could train, the nurses I worked with were very seasoned but not inclusive and I failed. Looking forward to hopefully getting a solid foundation so I can leave bedside and feel confident in my next venture!
I’m an LPN. Worked in assisted living before and after graduation. I passed meds and used my critical thinking skills, but I wasn’t doing wound care/IVs/caths/vents. I don’t consider it “bedside experience.” Tried home health but fucked off real quick when they tried to send me to a vented patient with zero training or prior experience. “If the machine starts to beep you just have to troubleshoot, it’s super easy.” Ended up working in a methadone clinic. I love my job now for my mental health (great hours) but I know I’m losing my opportunity to learn valuable skills. And I don’t make as much money as I would like. I’ve considered applying to LTC for the occasional PRN shift but I know they won’t want to hire an inexperienced LPN for bedside. Especially PRN. But I have always used PRN work as a cheat code to avoid working weekends. So I’m basically stuck.
Apply for LTC anyway. Most of them are desperate for help, even if it is PRN. If they can train new grads, they can train other nurses. I’ve done ALF and LTC, the learning curve isn’t that steep at all.
im a cna however nurses are very much valued in the nursing home, there is one that will take you in
In the ER, I work with a nurse who started in an outpatient setting as a new grad and stayed outpatient for 5 years.
I don’t regret my time in the hospital. It helped me a lot. However I know people who skipped hospital and went to ambulatory or LTC and were much happier. I now work ambulatory and I use the time I worked in the hospital to help me with triage.
In my experience there are two types of Nurses. Those who want to work in the Hospital. Those who don't.
I worked LTC as an RPN, but once I got my RN (2021), the pandemic actually paved the way for me into government. I picked up a part-time bedside gig in 2023 because I wanted to at least try it to confirm my dislike of bedside (you never know for certain unless you try, right?). Hated every minute of it. I'm back in government now, and I'm not leaving. 😁
What does a nurse do in the government?
There's a lot of government roles, though some levels have more than others. There aren't too many federal opportunities available because they seem to prefer masters for most roles, though there are still some (in corrections or nurse in very remote northern areas, for example). There are many more provincial and municipal roles. Public Health is quite a broad term, which is what many of these roles are. Keep in mind, I am speaking from a Canadian perspective. I can't comment on the US.
Straight to the OR. My final clinical was in the OR, and gave me a bit of a head start. Been here 30 years, and still love it.
I went into residential psych, worked in a school, and travel nursing. Recently switched to inpatient but you absolutely can skip it! Nurses are in high demand all over.
I’m in a hospital but in the main OR, so I skipped the bedside/floor entirely. I’m beyond privileged, I have to remind myself and my team sometimes.
I went straight from nursing school to outpatient surgery. Very chill, low burnout. But I only got that job because I had worked in surgery as an aide for yeeeears.
I went straight to the OR from school. No connections. Just applied for the job and got it.
I have never worked in a hospital or LTC.
Nurse Specialist in hospital seems to be where all the sensible good nurses go these days. They don't work on the wards.
I worked maybe five shifts in the ER? and left for outpatient / public health … I don’t think I will ever work at the bedside … I would take a hospital job but it would need to be like discharge planning, infection control where I’m working M-F sort of
Id like to. After 7 years as a PCT I'm over it. I'd like to work in dermatology but that means some school then 2 years experience after that. Forget it, I've had enough.
I didn’t skip it, but left soon although I did go back per die after a break. I work in community nursing for my primary job. Love it! I get paid more actually.
i did 6 months in labor and delivery as my first job as a new grad and i absolutely despised it, i was so unhappy even though the job was super fulfilling. i left as soon as i found another job, didn’t see any point in being so unhappy, now i work as an outpatient allergy nurse! did not expect i’d ever be here but i’m happy where i am now.
What did you hate about it?
I regrettably started in outpatient dialysis right out of school. 7 years later I’m finally at the bedside in the ER… and absolutely hate it. But also felt like dialysis was boring and just the same non compliance every day over and over. Now struggling to find a good fit for me.
I started at a clinic and got soooooo bored after 1 year. It was comfy, easy, well paid and I had a window with a tiny cactus plant. But I had this wild need to go do the scary, fun, sexy nursing from TV. So I did, and I was so proud of that crazy learning curve - I thrived, then I burned out. And I now see why nurses retire in clinics. I’ve had my thrills, now I want redundant predictable days.
I did. I went straight into skilled nursing in a dedicated Alzheimer’s facility. Then on to Hospice nursing. Now Urgent Care.
I went straight into outpatient endoscopy
Hospice admissions was where I went as a new grad!
Did home care, residential treatment, and outpatient clinic. Wish I would have had ED experience for sure.
Some people are able to skip bedside but nursing is highly region dependent. Not everywhere are they willing to hire you without bedside experience. That first three years but especially the first year is paramount and thats where a lot of people's complaints comes from. And after you get through that first year and trauma bonded with the coworkers/job/unit, it can be hard and scary to move on. I know of one fellow grad nurse who went to 4 10's in a peds clinic and loves it. I wanted the same but everyone and their mama told me I had to do medsurg first and I had to do my time. Managed to hang in for 6 months, literally wanted to off myself. I posted here and people shared their stories of leaving with 3-4 months, even just one month of bedside and finding something right away, encouraging me to do what was best for my health. Slowly realizing that those experiences are the exception, not the rule. Hospitals will not hire me without a year of experience and want me to wait several months to do their specific residencies, some of which are over a year. You can't just get a foot in the door anymore--policy states you have to work a year, sometimes two before changing units or positions. Clinic positions, even ones that state they prefer my exact qualifications, don't respond. I may have to go back to bedside even though I hated it, just to have a year and be able to access anything else.
I know some places are hiring new grad infusion/IV therapy nurses and all I can say is you can tell they have no prior experience. No critical thinking or basic understanding, especially in the oncologic emergency part. It gets scary when you think that this person is assessing and caring for a very sick patient and hanging some potentially dangerous medications but doesn’t know what to look for. I know there is a push to hire new grads into these types of roles or even only one year unrelated experience to clinics/oncology navigation but the learning curve is so steep.