Any SAHM out there that are also RNs?

[mamaluvs]

Since DD's birth 3.5 yrs ago, I have been primarliy a SAHM, only working per diem as an RN in an ED.   I am thinking about stopping work altogether.  I find going to work one or twice a week to be very stressful, as I still need to make sure everything else for the family is done.and I also must arrange all the childcare.  DH works long hours and travels a lot, which adds to the stress and me working more doesn't mean he gets to work less.  I am also not totally in love with my job but yet, I can't quite figure out what other RN position would make me happy.  Working in the ED kind of gets into your blood, KWIM?

My biggest concern with leaving my job is that I will face many difficulties finding a new position due to loss of skills when I am ready to return to work.  Everyone I tlak to We are still paying back my student loans, which adds to my guilt about quitting.  Financially, we could make do without the money.  Part of me also feels guilty about not working when I can work.  I know many people think I'm lucky that I have a job where I can pick and choose my hours and would kill for an opportunity to have a job that allows for that.

Just wondering what other RNs thoughts are about this.  Or anyone's elses thoughts.

Thanks!

[Peony]

I am an RN, now I am working part time again but for almost 7 years I didn't have a "paid" job as a nurse. I volunteered some. I went back to work early last year, I didn't have an issue at all after being a SAHM. I actually wasn't looking for a job, this one literally fell into my job through my volunteer job. I'm an IBCLC and didn't want to go back to hospital work with my kids still being so little so I work in a health dept. My Dh works long hours and travels quite a bit as well which also means everything is on me. I needed a flexible job with minimal hours, I am the supervisor so I set my own hours. I never work more then half a day which is because that is what I decided would make things tolerable, and it really has been doable. 

It is different then being an ED nurse though. A fellow mom at DD2's school is in the same boat you are. She works per diem 2 nights a week as a ED nurse, is exhausted of all the juggling, and really considering quitting for a couple years. It is an option to stay per diem and do less shifts? I know numerous moms that do that at my local hospital but there per diem means a minimal of 2 shifts a month so most of those moms just do one weekend a month. Some have done that for almost 10 years now. 

I don't see anything wrong with stepping away for a while. It may be harder to return, how the job market is in your local area might be worthwhile to consider, or it might not.

[Eileithyia]

I am an RN, pregnant with my first, and am planning to be a SAHM.  I work in an ICU, and am not thrilled with the idea of being away from my little one in a stressful environment for long days and nights.  I have thought about becoming an IBCLC.  Do I need to work on a post-partum unit in order to get the necessary hours to become a IBCLC?  When I do go back, I am especially not interested in doing nights.  I am also interested in community and public health nursing.  It's funny, one of many reasons I decided to become an RN was so I could easily work part-time when I decided to have a child.  I am still glad I chose nursing for this reason, but it's ironic that now that I don't want to work at all!  

[Peony]

Originally Posted by Eileithyia 

I am an RN, pregnant with my first, and am planning to be a SAHM.  I work in an ICU, and am not thrilled with the idea of being away from my little one in a stressful environment for long days and nights.  I have thought about becoming an IBCLC.  Do I need to work on a post-partum unit in order to get the necessary hours to become a IBCLC?  When I do go back, I am especially not interested in doing nights.  I am also interested in community and public health nursing.  It's funny, one of many reasons I decided to become an RN was so I could easily work part-time when I decided to have a child.  I am still glad I chose nursing for this reason, but it's ironic that now that I don't want to work at all!  

You need 1000 hours within the last 5 years of working with breastfeeding moms. So usually RNs who do sit for the exam often work in pp or some type of mom and baby job. Community/public health is soo different from what I did in the hospital but I have to say I enjoy it more. My health dept is full of working mom RNs because they often have a lot of flexibility in their hours. Working 8:30-2:30 or something similar to school hours is what many do. That is too much for me, I will soon have 4 children 8 and under, but when this last one is in school, I can see myself happily working those hours.