Well--I worked with crazy people up until a couple weeks ago. I used to work with those found NGRI, so a prison wouldn't be a huge leap. (Yes, it would!)
I'd never make it in a prison. I'm too gullible.

Did you learn enough about health insurance/medicare etc... to get a paper-work gig doing something like chart review?

Absolutely. I know a lot about that stuff...I handled disability claims for long and short term disability for 3,800 employees in a steel mill...

Ooh, yeah. Insurance reviewer is a good gig. Check to see if there are any mental health managed care providers near you. (I know there are some call centers for Magellan Behavioral Health in Ohio, I'm just not sure what cities they are near.) When I did a search on monster.com a while back there were a lot of that kind of jobs. They also often need RNs or LPNs for other insurance billing and coding kinds of jobs.

There's always prostitution. It's like marriage lite, same principle without the drudgery. ;)

at the professional level, they are called escorts or courtesans. they tend to make a ton of money. also tend to have some other issues in life. i've had a few as clients.

Medical Transcriptionist, work from home. Good money.
Medical Insurance Processer. Work from home. Better Money.
Medical Office Manager. Work in an office with bitchy pissy women, self absorbed doctors and sick, whiney and crying people. And their babies.

I know what I'd go for.

What? Courtesan? :)

Good ideas, all. I'm glad I asked here---put together, you Cellarites are a wonderful resource. I humbly thank everyone who has taken the time to think for me. My brain is, currently, so preoccupied with fear and "what if's" that it is hard for me to see beyond the problems of today. I just returned from a group discussion at my local book store of NICKEL AND DIMED-ON NOT GETTING BY IN AMERICA and to say I am feeling panicked would be an understatement.

LOL been there, done that.

No, I meant the Medical Insurance thingy at home. My best friend was going to do it, but she moved to Croatia instead. Ho.

have you ever thought of going back to college part time to get another degree? such as a buisness degree. there are plenty of jobs out there for people who have general degrees.

be a hairdresser. talk to people. learn about life.

Brianna, I have absolutely no idea WHAT to recommend that you do. But if you're serious about getting a teaching cert at some point, a lot of colleges & universities give free tuition to their employees. So you might make a point of looking at job postings from any of those in your area and see if any strike your fancy.

I don't know your situation at all Brianna, but try to see it all as opportunity rather than threat. I've made some pretty radical changes to my lifestyle in my past. They could all have been classified as either "brave" or "foolhardy". My conclusion is that beforehand there is no difference between the two. But with hindsight "brave" is when it worked out ok and "foolhardy" is when it didn't. But what the hell .... give it a go ...

Thanks, limey. You've no idea how I've needed to hear something like that--that others have taken the plunge and survived. Leaving nursing seems insane to a lot of people (like those waiting to get INto nursing, or those envious of the money earned--but that money is earned by working nights, in dangerous situations with inadequate staff, praying the whole time that nobody dies on your watch!) but I must leave. Either nursing goes, or I go. :eek: