u/thr0waw4y76

I have been a nurse less than a year and I have already decided the traditional nurse path is not what I want long term. I am chronically ill and I know the longer I do bedside the more my body will just give out. Especially because all of the hospitals around me are short staffed and it has been horrendous. I want to go the remote route eventually sooner than later and I was wondering the best way to do so. I am currently working in medsurg just trying to finish out this year as everywhere around me wants a year of previous RN experience before they hire. I have a compact license already and am also about to go back for my BSN because I’ve noticed a lot of remote roles and just places in general like BSN and I don’t wanna get sucked into another contract. What path should I take from here to build my resume and eventually go into Remote work? What are the best jobs to take to get there? I know it’s a competitive job market right now. Are there any remote roles that are less competitive/difficult to get into that I should explore? How can I network. Looking for any and all advice!

TLDR: Burnt out new Medsurg nurse wanting to switch to outpatient but probably will have zero luck for another year.

I work on a very busy medsurg unit but we also get so many psych patients, as well as alcohol and drug withdrawal. I work in the city so a lot of our population is homeless addicts, many being extremely combative. I’ve been kicked, grabbed, and almost attacked several times. Or we get very intensive surgical patients who need help with all ADLs. The thing is, even though I’m a new grad I am very confident in skills and comfortable working as a nurse. I have gotten numerous patient shoutouts and positive feedback. My anxiety isn’t around being unfamiliar with skills as much as it is feeling so mentally and physically burnt out I have multiple chronic illnesses including POTS so I am also incredibly fatigued and it sucks because I always hear “well your new! once you get adjusted you won’t care” but I just don’t believe it. A lot of nurses are leaving the hospital so sometimes we get lucky and get a float pool nurse to come help, many days we have no UC to answer calls, some days we have no PCAs. Some days I’m lucky to get lunch. Even the most experienced nurses on our floor seem pretty sick of it. I think I would be more okay with our population if we were staffed. I never know if I am gonna have a good day or be drowning but most days its drowning. I have maybe seen my educator come out and help 3 times since Ive been there, otherwise she pulls us aside to grill us on what we are doing wrong often times pulling everyone behind on med passes on very busy days and she has very unrealistic expectations of us because she hasn’t worked the floor in a long time. My manager is the only thing keeping me besides the fact that I need money as she has been incredibly supportive of me. I am so burnt out at this point I would rather just pay back my sign on bonus (which I have readily available in my savings) and find somewhere else to work. The issue is I know everywhere else will be the same way and my best bet would be to go to outpatient where I work shorter durations on my feet and know what to expect everyday. I’m just having a hard time finding any outpatient clinics that are willing to hire a nurse with less than a year of experience. I am seriously rethinking my entire career choice and have even considered going for my bachelors in a totally different field. It sucks. I wanted to love this, it was always my dream to be a nurse. What do I do? What can I do?