cross-posted from: https://ani.social/post/4263335
I’m an Europe based nurse and work shifts: 06:00 to 14:00, 13:00 to 21:00 or graveyard shift: 20:00 to 06:30 the next day.
Working bedside full time I earn EUR 4K before taxes plus shift supplements that earn me between EUR 0.5 and 0.9K per month, so that’s between 4.5K and 4.9K per month. Most of this extra money comes from working the graveyard shift, the second biggest contribution are weekends.
I know I’m not going to work bedside until I retire because this is a tiring and demanding job and have been looking for administrative positions within my hospital system.
There are 2 regular 9 to 5 jobs that fit my area of expertise: case manager and study nurse. Monday to Friday, no weekends except a doctor needs me with him there, no night shifts. My starting base salary would be 3.7K but I wouldn’t get supplements anymore.
I’m not sure I want to have a normal 9 to 5, mostly office based job if it means earning EUR 0.8K to 1.2K less than I do now. I’d sleep better, I wouldn’t have to wake up at 4:30 or fear that a loud neighbor is going to ruin the night because it’s Friday and he wants to party, I wouldn’t feel tired after every morning shift, I wouldn’t have to work 8 to 10 days without breaks…
But I believe I’ve grown used to nursing: a positive aspect of waking up at 04:30 is that streets are empty when you go to work and when you come home, there are always free seats on your commute, no children yelling after school, no queues when you go shopping, I don’t mind working weekends because you work less and earn a bit more… And where I work there is a huge nurse scarcity and my manager doesn’t complain much when I call in sick.
I don’t know how to decide
Talk to your employer about taking on the role on a “fixed term” basis of say 6 months. Tell them honestly why and see what they say. If you’re concerned about the lack in money see if you can take the 9 to 5 and supplement with the odd Sunday shift back on the floor to prop the wages up if that suits you.
Can you still do some prn work if you take the desk job? In my opinion, you should work while you can now to earn what you can now, and take the experience while there are opportunities. Later, you can get the desk job, but for more money, since you’re more experienced. Also, there are opportunities in research/real world evidence/device manufacturers/ software companies outside the healthcare systems for experienced clinicians like yourself (even fully remote ones).
Maybe this current role isn’t perfect for you, but it started you wondering, and that’s good.
I would stay bedside as long as you physically and emotionally can. Bank the extra $ and leave before you get too jaded. Then move to an educational or case manager position where students and/or patients can benefit from your knowledge and experience. You can physically work it up to (or even possibly beyond) retirement age.
Why not both? There are a fair bit of positions that allow a certain degree of patient sided work. And of course there is always Freelance/Locum work in most countries.
I have switched to a full off-patient role a long time ago and since the beginning of Covid I have worked mostly remotely. But I am still working as a Freelancer for a few shifts per month, depending on my workload.
And I like this model a lot.
You have to figure it out somehow. Just figure out which you could stand doing for a year. You can always try to change to the other after a year if you hate it