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

  • ZathrasEnglish
    1·
    8 days ago

    What is a study nurse? Is it a nurse educator or research nurse?

    The nurses I have known who moved into case management from bedside were surprised with the demands of that job but that is in the US. From my experience, it seems like case management turnover rates are high.

    What is your area of expertise? I am assuming that you are a bit computer savvy by being on a fediverse platform and if so, what about looking into clinical informatics?

    I would be hesitant about moving into a position with lower pay. I’ve done both bedside and desk jobs as a nurse and personally, looking at all the info you have shared, I would stick to bedside if you aren’t burnt out yet until a better paying/hours/benefits administrative job opportunity comes around. But if you are already burned out, definitely do something else or you will be miserable. You can always return to bedside if things don’t work out.

    Feel free to DM me if you want someone to bounce ideas off of.

    Best of luck.