I'm finding it hard to get a non-bedside nursing job lately (in the IE in SoCal). I have one year of experience (float pool RN) and yearning to get out of bedside. Is anyone else having the same issue or have any tips/leads?
Try Correctional Nursing. Its ever changing, no day is the same. You aren't bedside so ( no turning patients, dressing patient etc.) The majority of your patient population is r ambulatory. You can work in jail or a prison. I preferred jail because people usually weren't incarcerated for a long time and didn't have time to study your every move.
Its a kind of nursing you will either love, or hate, and you will pretty much know where you stand within a couple of shifts.
If you have virgin ears or are not thick skinned, don't bother to apply. But if you feel you're up for an interesting nursing experience, try it. You can also access some YOUTUBE on correctional nursing and it will give you an idea of what things look like.
BEST OF LUCK
There are jobs with Anthem and Magellan if you want to do UR work remotely. It's M - F 8-5.
Check out The Remote Nurse! She has a website and Facebook page where she post tons of jobs that range from case management, patient monitoring, tele-triage, etc.
I am an RN and am working in the correctional facility for the past 6 months . I used to work as an LVN for around 3 years 7-8 years ago, went back to school etc , and now applied in a woman's facility. It's a really dynamic environment, always changing and demanding . Once you learn the system you are set! Yes , you will either love it or hate it like someone mentioned before me. I love the challenges, the pay and the benefits, but if you have a family and little children there is no work- life balance , it's non stop ... However, the money and benefits are great! If you have a good support system at home , You could try it for 6 months and see , it's really personal , depends from person to person .... It might be worth the try ...Another option is school nursing or working in an ambulatory setting ... Goodluck!
Have you picked an area you want to move to? Start taking CEUs for that area to show you are truly interested and are proactively taking steps to prepare yourself.
With one year experience it may be a bit harder but continue to persevere.
I'm having the opposite problem, but I think that a year of experience is a minimum requirement for most opportunities that are away from the bedside. I agree with the previous response of deciding which field you are interested in pursuing and working towards that.
There are so many options outside of bedside that you may still not be interested in, but I would apply to the ones that you are interested in and look at their minimum qualifications in additions to their preferred. You will start seeing a pattern and then work on whatever you don't have for minimum and then preferred.
Also, reaching out to recruiters or responding to them may also help you find your perfect career. Good luck!
Become a peritoneal dialysis nurse with Davita! Literally the best job. Make your own schedule, 4 10hr shifts, great team of nurses. A lot of benefits. I left bedside 7 years ago…never going back.
Hello!! I onlhave worked in medsurge for 6 months and I got a position as a correctional nurse in lacounty . If you speak another language you are highly valued! Especially Spanish. I also have had interviews for other positions like home health. Do not let anyone discourage you from seeking elsewhere because you have only a year experience, that is old school mentality! Nurses are needed everywhere right now and willing to train you. Don't let people tell you other wise, if you look you will find!
It took me 7 years of applying to get a non-bedside position; people get those jobs and they never leave for good reasons. I'm definitely having more work life balance M-F 8-430, and while making the same or more income.
Not sure what part of IE you're in, but I'm in San Bernardino, CA and know of some non-bedside opportunities.
I had the opposite problem because I got my license at the start of the pandemic and couldn't find a hospital position easily. I started my nursing journey as a jail nurse at SB county jail, then worked staff per diem out at a hospital in Anaheim, and now currently do short term hospital contracts in most of SoCal area (I'm currently out in Monterey Park rn). I also do school nursing part-time (you don't need a credential for my position), so you have a couple of options and honestly, it just depends on what you're looking for. I've had friends offer me positions in occupational health nursing (there's quite a few warehouses in SB city that employ this kind of nurse), and I've seen a lot of clinic-type positions pop up as well. There are office-based positions, remote positions, etc. as well. DM if you'd like specific information because there are def a lot of options in our area, and even more you're willing to expand your search to surrounding areas. I know of a lot of opportunities in OC as well, but not too much in LA (I vehemently hate the traffic and try not to accept assignments/jobs there if I can help it), although I can def point you in the right direction if that's what you're looking for lol.
Perhaps you might consider Health Informatics. It would require some additional training. If you have a college degree, check out the certification program at University of South Florida. It is a four course program online. If you took the 8 week courses back to back, it would take you 32 weeks to complete. You might consider applying to the Masters program as the first four courses are the certification courses! You can choose to take additional courses past the certification and it looks good on a resume that you are enrolled in a master’s program.
If no degree, check out UC Davis. They have a certification program. Online and six courses. If you took one at a time, it would take you 1 1/2 years to complete.
Health z informatics is dealt with the electronic medical records. Good luck!
Have you considered going into clinical research? Clinical research associates (CRA) and study coordinators are involved in monitoring and conducting research studies for investigational drugs and devices. There are many nurses who transition to this field due to its closeness to healthcare. People in these roles come from many varied backgrounds but nurses do exceptionally well. You should do searches for Clinical Research Associate and see what training and opportunities there are.
Have you looked into ambulatory surgical centers or clinics? typically the pay is slightly less but still livable wage, no weekends call or holidays...
Look at the career websites for the major health insurance plans in Southern California. Lots of remote positions and it would help if you have experience or at least some knowledge of Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans, Quality Improvement, Case Management, Utilization Management, etc. Good luck!
Try Community Health Nursing i.e. Health Center. Since the pandemic, a lot of nurses shifted to non hospitals job. CVS has primary health nursing too
Altamed has lots nursing positions in LA and OC including ambulatory clinic, nurse supervisors, UM dept, referral nurses, case management, etc. Just search careers at Altamed.
La Care is hiring for remote positions.
My name is Stephanie Yellin I work as a School Nurses for Los Angeles Unified School District who is hiring Nurses with BSNs or a BA in anything go to LAUSD.net and search nursing and right on the Nursing home page is information on the job and information on salary or how to apply. I left Kaiser to get my masters and thought oh I’ll work 5 years and I have never returned. I really enjoy what I am doing and have worked in different schools and done all grade school levels and found the area I love to work.
Consider working at an asc, I work prn at an eye surgery center and it is relatively stress free and I have a great work life balance. GI surgery centers are a bit busier, you just have to get lucky that the place has good management cause that really makes or breaks your experience
Hi there. If you have any interest in wound care, it is in great demand. Wound care nurses are bedside but in and out. I have done this for 30 years and in between I have done labor and delivery for a change. Wound care is a massive field and many management roles come from there. Hospitals like Kindred/Scion out near you would be a good start. Kindred Ontario. Kindred Rancho. Best of luck and really just thanks for being in the profession. No matter what road you take. You are valued.
My question is what is happening that is making you yearning to leave bedside. Then I could direct you more adroitly.
Correctional Nursing is the answer!! I feel the safest place to work. You will have a deputy when you see patients. No call lights!!
Try case management. We have open positions in case management within kaiser.
I have been an RN for 30 years and am done with bedside nursing. I agree with you. I am really having a difficult time working without going back to facility nursing.
Many work from home positions are emerging now with tech. We are training staff that work from home every week. We will be offering public training soon with CEUs
I am a work comp RN case manager - no bedside! Some companies- including the one I work for ( Arch Care Consultants) will hire RNs w no experience in this area and train the right person
Try an IVF Clinic, they have RN jobs as Coordinator's and PACU/recovery. School nursing is great in a private school especially in SoCal, all the private schools have nurses now, or in a public school district, (you will need to get a credential eventually if you have a BS that is not difficult for the public school) Also, there are many outpatient clinics associated with Kaiser and UCLA in
SoCal. Incredible Health seemed to be doing a lot of placements these days, you could sign up with them.
Have you tried “befriending” a member of a team/specialty you wish to join? That might be where you get “real” insight. As a Director of Performance Improvement Departments for over 20 years, I always respected someone who really wanted to see what the day to day work
involves. I have always been glad to sit down with interested RNs to answer questions and give them a real overview. A recommendation from someone on my team or someone showing real interest will always carry a bit of extra weight in the hiring process.
There are so many varied nursing jobs. You can be an occupational health nurse you can be a school nurse, or utilization review RN, appeal RN so many opportunities
I would recommend taking just a couple of classes and getting your PHN (Public health nurse license). I got mine simply because my nursing school had ONE public health class added to their curriculum. So it should not take much to add those extra CEUs and get this license. Then and only then (they won't accept applicants w/o PHN license), apply for county public health nurse positions. Most are DESK job only. My nursing school friend knew she never wanted to do bedside so this is the route she took. She now makes more money than bedside nursing (starts lower initially though). Working M-F, every other Fri off (they work 9 or 10 hour days and get a long weekend every other week). Paid for every holiday without having to work it, gets 4 weeks vacation after 10 years there. Gets a PENSION which is invaluable. She works for Dept of Family & Children Services, ensuring foster kids have their vaccinations, are getting check ups, etc. All desk work. No bedside or hands on. BTW, I am in OC and she is in LA County, so this info is local to you.
You can always look for roles that aren’t strictly nursing but are looking for people with clinical backgrounds. I transitioned into Risk Management a couple months ago and I don’t see myself ever going back to the bedside
oh, to add to my prior comment, there is alot of good advice posted. Insurance companies, Corrections, Attorney offices, Medical Supply Companies. Dialysis... still patient care, but not in a hospital setting. it is wild how many non bedside jobs there are.... just hard to get... just keep applying!!!! Dont give up! Sell yourself on what you are GOOD AT
Get into Case Management, Clinical Documentation, Med Review, Chart Review, Legal Nurse Consultant. May be hard to get into with 1 year experience, but it is worth the try! Research in an MD office will hire some as well.
What is making you want to get away from the bedside? What kind of positions have you been seeking to get away from the bedside? Do you have some particular areas of interest you would like to work?
Try applying to a home health case manager position.
There was another nurse below who also made a great suggestion if you don't mind working in Corrections. They have an infirmary which is more because care but it's closer to like a SNF, but you can also learn some very valuable skills in the outpatient clinics where you triage and provide nursing care. Many Correctional Facilities also have standing orders. You can learn a lot of valuable skills there that insurance companies or remote companies who need remote nurses to triage over the phone will strongly seek.
A Headhunter is also a good way to get your foot in the door sometimes. They work hard for you to get you in the door. A recruiter or a headhunter, in Google it. Once you make a couple of profiles they'll never leave you alone trust me. Good luck
It is not what you know, It is who you know. Good luck in your search
I came out of bedside to Case Mamagement. Left SoCal though and moved here in Far Northern and I'm loving my job so far. Decent pay too. Look up Home and Health Care Management for RN jobs.
I did spend 6 years working from home for Anthem. Try all the insurance companies and plan on getting your ccm. This is a certified case manager. This was an invaluable experience for me as I learned how to navigate my patient's health care.
I have been a RN since 1978 and currently work as a family nurse practitioner and psychiatric nurse practitioner.
I think you can get into Case Management in some places. Good luck.
There are multiple departments that you can switch over to that are not “bedside”. Try the Operating Room. I’ve been in the OR for almost 25 years. There’s also the Cath lab, EP Lab, outpatient surgery, Pre Op, PACU, etc. You need to look around at other opportunities in other departments.
I live in the IE, and I'm a dialysis nurse. Moved away from bedside 8 years ago, and happy with my decision. Not many hospitals will train you to be a dialysis nurse. Got my training at a chronic HD clinic. Another option is get training for dialysis at a school that offers it. You can also look into case management. My wife left the bedside, and is now doing case management. She's much happier now. It's a 830 to 1700 job though. Good luck in your search.
Try Fertility nursing /Ivf coordinator. Best move I ever made. It’s an in demand job in LA.
I am looking for outpatient nursing in Michigan ready to leave bedside
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Try applying for the ICU in a university hospital with a good preceptor program. Obviously, this is bedside. The good news is that you will have only two patients and will have the resources to care for them.
Try nursing in Corrections. I’m in immigration health services. No bedside. It’s a typical urgent clinic. You draw scheduled labs and maybe put an IV of fluids then send them out via EMS if an emergency. Pay is great and benefits okay. Lots of OT. There’s politics everywhere. The detainees or inmates are people like everyone else. At least you know what to expect unlike in public health everybody is unpredictable. You don’t know who is crazy these days. Corrections, it’s s either you like it or you don’t.
I got started in infection control nursing, and it’s not completely non-bedside, but it’s more admin than bedside. It’s a lot to learn, but if you’re up for the challenge, totally worth it.
Other non-bedside positions-
1:1 school nurse
Certified School Nurse
Infection Control
Start looking into skilled nursing facilities- they always have admin positions open. All it takes is one person to give you a chance when you have no experience.
When I was hired as ICP, I had no experience and was applying as a floor nurse, but mentioned I was interested in leadership positions and boom. Got the chance.
Good luck !!!
I’ve been in critical care most of 30 years and I got a job doing home health. It’s easy and hardly any stress! And fun! Autonomous flexible schedule and not a lot of time.
I would also be curious as to why you want to leave the bedside. I recently went into admissions after being a floor, then charge nurse for a neuro rehab unit. I think it is very difficult to get.your skills down as a new nurse who floats - typically in our hospital the float nurses are experienced and don't mind going to different units as they enjoy the flexibility in their work schedule. However, they are expected to work without much supervision so I think as a new nurse I would find that very intimidating. As well all units are different in the types of patients and the workload, how well staff work together as a team and so on. I switched to admissions due to getting older and needing a different workflow, not because I didn't like what I was doing (I just knew that I wouldn't have the energy to keep doing it at some point and wanted to switch before that happened).
My old job is hiring a clinic nurse: Los Angeles Christian health centers. It’s in skid row and you help the homeless and they also have a street team rn position where you go into encampments and treat people there. I highly recommend it. It’s super low key work and extremely rewarding.
If Covina isn’t too far for you look in Aurora Charter Oak Behavioral health. It’s behavioral health.
Public Health Nursing is another option. Non bedside.
Yes and I had the same problem before the pandemic. Absolutely refuse the bedside position. Do not allow them to coerce you into taking the bedside position.
I know it may not seem like the answer that you want to hear, but many non bedside positions would like for you to have at least 2 years of recent bedside experience. However, I would also suggest looking into insurance companies. Still they may want at least two years of experience. It may be over before you know it. Good luck.
It is better to have more than one year of acute bedside nursing as it hones in on your critical thinking skills, assessment and the ability to work and think under pressure. There is nothing like acute care bedside nursing when it comes to education.
I am having the issue and I live in the same area. Only difference is, I have many years of experience but in one area. I didn't want to leave my area; but circumstances beyond my control, caused it to happen. I have been trying to get a job off of the floor for years. They always tell me I didn't get it and they went with someone that had MORE EXPERIENCE.
I have the opposite problem in Northern California. For every 50,000 home health/hospice/community health positions, I have found 2 new grad programs in my area for hospital jobs.
Look up SCA HEALTH they are a
Huge entity with tons of ASC locations
Good luck!
Yes I realize that lately. I’ve worked 40+ years continuously with previous acute care . Last twenty years has been out-patient cardiology.Trying to find something different even a nursing home. Recruiters tell me I need at least 1 year of skilled nursing home to be accepted for a job in a nursing home???? I guess previous experiences don’t count????
Yes , I have been a bedside care RN for 32 years and for personal reason ready for a desk job, I have help case manager and I know it is not for me. I have a bsn, crrn. But still in the past people are not willing to give me a chance or it is too far. But just hang on the opportunity will come.
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I'm RN which I still have Bsc nursing science. I need bedside nursing
non bedside nursing is tough to find and hardly available besides its all clerical and doesnt require much even layman folks can do it therefore demand is so minimal supply are so huge. u need to broaden your scope i bit wider to re engage yourself back .
I hate to say it but you have barely been a nurse. Moving away from direct patient care requires you to have credibility especially when dealing with other nurses. Unfortunately I have seen this occasionally when someone discovers they don’t like patient care and can’t leave. Many times it’s assumed they do so because they can’t cut it or made a poor career decision. If you can’t put in more time, and can’t find a specific area you like, I’d suggest going back to school, getting more education so you can move into something non-bedside
One year in a float pool is still pretty green. I would look to insurance companies UR work. Take some classes in case management and UR. If you want to increase your work value I would look at working in critical care for a minimum of 5 years. Then you will see many doors open for you.
I have been a nurse for 43 yrs and loved my bedside nursing, skilled facility nursing, ER, home health, primary care. 1st question, why did u get into nursing? 2: What r your goals? Where do u see yourself in 10yrs, 20, 30.
We all had to gain experience working inpatient. The time there is invaluable & 1 yr isn’t enough. And are u in nursing 4 the right reason?
Check KP.org. There are multiple positions for ambulatory care available and I know our clinic has been needing to fill a spot for several years.
Yes
I would not hire you yet either. You need to get more experience before you leave the bedside. One year is nothing when patients are so complicated today.
Because you have not prepared for that
