Career options for a Cardiology nurse.

Question:
Can any one help me with ideas for a career change?

I am an RN with an MA in Health promotion. Most of my career (5 yr.) has been spent as a Cardiology office nurse. My current duties are split between cardiology office nurse and patient educator. The patient education is very rewarding and stimulating (and occasionally frustrating).

I suppose the taste of autonomy that I've experienced as an educator has made me yearn for a more independent position, and I am currently thinking of entering the Nurse Practitioner program at Texas.

I wonder, however, if there are career options that I have not considered. What type of career options exist for someone with my background who is tired of the necessarily subservient role played by an office nurse? Insurance? Pharmaceuticals? Anything with independent decision making and autonomy.

Answer:

An area you may want to consider is working with a cardiac rehab program.
(I'm a patient in one associated with the Somerset Medical Center in
Somerville, NJ.)

The patients seem to come in two basic groups: Those who play the game and those that go through the motions (yes, there are shades between the two as well.)

In our group we are fortunate enough to have a very dedicated, caring cardiac nurse, to whom we are _very_ grateful (to the point where I thanked her during an appearance on Jeopardy!)

While it sounds as though you are looking for something which will take advantage of your experience, these folks need people who can substitute for them, and this could enable you to take more risks in your primary occupation.

There are some retired nurses in this area who have built a practice of helping patients with health insurance claims for an hourly fee. Once they know the procedure, they can do in a minute what the patient would need an hour to accomplish. If you go this route, do NOT fail to contact attorneys and Bank Trust Officers, who have clients with the ability to pay, and who will welcome you with open arms.