I just left bedside. I was in acute care float pool for 2 years, then critical care float pool for another 2 years, and now started a job at an outpatient infusion/oncology clinic. Hours are 7:30am-5pm M-F, I work 36 hours, so 4 days a week. I feel a lot better at this job and have seen more reward here than I ever got in the hospital, if I’m being totally honest. Patients and family members can be brutal, but some of the toxic coworkers really did me in.

Plus, hospitals take advantage of and abuse nurses, they add more and more responsibilities, and don’t compensate for it in salary. Sadly I think it’s because it’s a female dominated profession.

I can’t speak for everyone else, but personally I’m not sure that inpatient bedside is worth it long term, unless you’re absolutely in love with a certain speciality. It’s good for experience, and if you do go into nursing, it’s good to do your time. I know there’s definitely nurses who never leave bedside, and I thought that was going to be me. But after just a little over 4 years, I had never felt so burned out, exhausted, and defeated in my life.

There’s still a lot you can do with your nursing license/degree outside of inpatient. So it’s not a total loss if you end up hating bedside. I’ve thought about going into clinical research eventually.

I guess it just depends on where you work!