Sometimes the off duty jobs are easy and there are plenty out there. All my husband has to do is contact someone and he can have a job that night. A lot of the jobs require little effort. The officer can just watch a building for security purposes. They can sit in their cars, read books and watch movies to pass the time until their time is over or if something happened. I wish nurses had those options! We can use our expertise in many ways! I wish nurses had the option to have a chill off duty gig for about the same wage we make hourly on our regular jobs.
It's easy for my husband to say, "Can you work more?" because for him...working more is usually not really "working." For me to work more, it would likely mean to get another job, and ideally, an additional PRN job because that's where the most money is made. But with the PRN job means applying and interviewing, if you get that far, then waiting for the call back to be hired. Next, you'd go through orientation...and you'd start working. You would go to this PRN job likely after you've worked a full week on your regular unit and if the nurses were friends of yours, they wouldn't give you the most difficult patients because you're only there every once in a while. Some days may be slow but there are days when you would bust your ass and take names. My point, having an additional nursing job is not as easy as a police officer's "extra job." So I've been doing some thinking and I'm definitely a woman who looks for better solutions to life's problems. There is always a better way if you're not happy with something in your life or when things just need to be tweaked a little.
I started to ponder and think...something I do too much. Then I asked myself, "What would be my ideal way to make extra money?" Something effortless, fun, easy and enjoyable. Something that defines who I am, like a hobby! I did some research on those jobs...nothing nursing related showed up in the search results! Imagine that. I was waiting for the feeling of. "YES! That would be fun!" and I found it.
People who know me well, know I love animals. I could never work for a vet or a shelter, however. If I'm going to have a second job, it has to be a happy environment, all the time. I researched animal jobs and found some places where they board animals when people go on vacations. I thought this would be a wonderful place to spend my free time! The drawback was the pay rates. Obviously, you can't make a nurses salary walking dogs and playing with cats. That's something I'm ok with and believe it or not, my husband is, too. The extra income would be small, but it's still extra income.
What matters the most to me is that I would enjoy it. We all should do things we LOVE and if you get paid in the process, that's only the added benefit. We should have hobbies and surround ourselves with people, places and things that make us smile and bring joy to our world. Work doesn't have to be work if it brings you a special purpose. Many may not understand what I'm saying or why I would want to make extra money working with animals, but it's not about what others think. It's about me and anyone reading this. We go through life doing things we don't like. We go to jobs we hate. We marry people for the wrong reasons. We are depressed, anxious, tired. We often times neglect what we really want out of life, work at some place because we are obligated and want a big paycheck. But to me, it's the little things and it's about enjoying life. I have my career which I love and it's my passion, that's already been established. My job makes me happy. I love the patients and my co-workers but if having another job means less time with my husband, being more tired from working more hours and just bringing additional stress, then it's not worth it.
I'll close with this...
Find a career that you love, then work on you, define yourself with friends, hobbies and things that make you happy and if someone wants to pay you for having fun, then that's your extra special, little life bonus :)
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