I am an RN in a small town in Indiana. I have been vegetarian for 2 years, and am a newbie vegan for a couple of months now (have never felt better in my life!).
My problem is now that I so vibrantly see the connection between diet and illness, I despise what I do. Every day I go into work, push a cup full of pills at my patients, watch them undergo painful procedures, ect....and then place a meal tray in front of them that now seems lethal to me. (I.E. - watching a post-op open heart patient nosh on two double cheeseburgers as his first meal after surgery.  Sigh.) When I open my mouth to educate my patients, I am either chastized by the patient, their families, my coworkers, or the physicians I work with. It's such a battle! I'm beginning to be known as 'that crazy little hippie nurse'.

So I need a little advice. I'm new to this lifestyle, and while I LOVE it, I'm not quite sure how to spread it to my career. I feel so hypocritical at work right now. What kind of job opportunities are available? Should I consider going back to school?

RN here...The hospital I work at doesn't have hamburgers on the menu for adults. Sounds like someone flubbed up or it was overlooked that this patient wasn't put on a cardiac diet.  Are you a cardiac RN? Did the family bring in the hamburgers?

What makes me sad about our meal trays is that the children get to choose chicken tenders, friies and pizza along with other things.

I just saw Precious last night. There was a scene where handsome Nurse Aid is sitting eating a fruit cup and all the girls are talking about how they LOVE McDonalds. Gross!  I'm a non-practicing RN, I think the hardest job ever. I've always felt a very important nursing characteristic was not judging. So Hard. But what can I say, I left!  I work in drug safety now. What's crazy is that this isn't even hippy, it is scientifically a super healthy way to eat and heal your body, and I hope people continue to grasp onto that. Be strong! Re-label yourself as best nurse for not wanting patients to eat $hit!

Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.  ~Albert Einstein

not a nurse, but an acupuncturist on faculty at an acupuncture college in nyc - and I know that the college is starting a holistic nursing program in the fall or winter - I don't know much about it, but I believe its additional courses for people who are already qualified nurses.  I found an article about the specialty here:http://spa-wellness.spabeautyschools.com/content/article/holistic-nursing-programs-holistic-nursing-degrees/8104/as of right now, its a certificate program, one would think that in the (hopefully near!) future this would become more and more popular.I can't imagine what you guys go through knowing what you do about helath/diet and seeing it all disregarded in the settings you work in -  I truly believe that this will become more in demand, and that you are on the forefront of it all - meaning a lot of frustration, but also, a lot of opportunity to perhaps create/explore other ways of doing what you do in different settings.  

I don't work in the medical field at all, so I may not be one to give any advice - but why not go back to school to be a nutritionist?  I'm very happy in my job (city clerk), but I think if I had to go back to school, knowing what I know now about how wonderful and healthy a vegan lifestyle can be, I would study nutrition.

did two years study towards a degree as a Registered Dietician...STAY AWAY, you are not advising people how to eat healthy, you are learning about obesity/counselling the obese - every class I would sit and listen to stats on obesity in every possible walk of life, elderly, youth..and when it wasn't obesity it was diabetes or CVD.  Not a happy or positive place to be, I hated it and changed to a degree where I hope I can make a difference to animals instead of counseling obese people on how to get off the couch....eeeek I shudder to think about it.....I wish I could say I came away with something positive but I can't, and don't forget as a Dietician you are promoting a Food Guide - that just loves it's meat!
If you love diet/food issues, most environmental studies University programs have Health/Food focus areas that deal with veg eating, local and organic eating, GMOs & CSA farming,.  These classes are some of the most interesting I have attended lately :)
Some others focus areas are environmental issues relating to human population, sustainable resource development, pollution conservation, environmental health, endangerment and preservation of species. 
Good Luck.

Read up on Dr. Weil.
he promotes preventative medicine, and I think he has a school in AZ. Maybe their website could give you some ideas about how to use youe degree in a more holistic approach.

I had a dietician friend in the Air Force who was vegan. She once brought in this vegan bakery bought chocolate cake that was so good and so memorable! As far as life goes she seemed quite happy. Active duty military are in general health conscious and regularly jog to meet fitness test standards. We were stationed in Northern California near San Francisco and Berkely. We had two civilian dieticians working with us as well, so don't think you have to be able to don a uniform to find utopia. I once had a massage therapist who offered weight loss classes. She became a great friend. I think happiness is out there for you somewhere. With the foreclosure market, now may be a time to move that makes financial sense, and a move could make more room for social-spiritual balance. Do listen to your spirit and make a change for yourself.

Thanks all. Sherry, that sounds awesome...unfortunately I can't relocate my family to sunny Cali! I had been looking into dietetics, but EVERYTHING is based on the current food pyramid. How do you counsel someone in something you view as completely false? Ugh. I feel like I've hit a pivotal moment in my life, and boy am I pivoting. I'm just going to take this one day at a time - I'm sure it will lead me somewhere positive and amazing! In the mean time, all I can do is spread what I know, live what I believe and enjoy each day the best that I can ;)

p.s. - major victory in my house tonight, another vegan meal that the husband and young kiddos devoured. Score one for mom!

That is awesome Sherri to hear your friend is a dietican in the miltary because I am a corpsman in the navy right now and I would like to be a dietician in the Navy or Air Force but I didnt know how that would work with being vegan. Does she still have to follow the regular food pyramid guidelines? Do you know what kind of degree she has?

Julia, my son had open heart surgery last summer, and that was one of the things that struck me was the food available at the hospital - stuff like fried chicken, burgers, chicken fried steak - I was amazed that they would feed this stuff to kids who had just undergone some kind of major procedure like that!  Fortunately, my in-laws were here to help us, so we had them run to Whole Foods and bring us food while we were there.  I have no idea how hospitals determine what food to put on their menus, but there really needs to be some kind of hospital food revolution!

I honestly think there's a growing movement even in the medical profession though toward veganism.  Two of our doctors are MDs who promote nutrition as prevention - one of whom is our pediatrician.  Maybe there's a practice like that near you where your ideas would be better appreciated.

Julia,
Is there any other job or field you've been interested in but never went into, or recently found an interest in?  Now may be the time to make the switch!  Maybe this shift in your life is the Universe's little clue to you that it's time to make a change, not only in your food, but in your chosen profession.  ???  Just a thought. 
I know it's super scary, but my belief is no job is worth feeling stressed and upset about, especially when it's a daily occurrance.  And especially when there ARE other things out there to do.  This isn't vegan-related, or Kind Life-related, but I got my education degree in college.  I got a teaching job.  I wasn't happy, so I tried a few different schools, different grade levels, different subjects.  And finally came to the conclusion that I did NOT want to be a teacher!  So at the end of one school year (3 years ago) I quit my job.  No back-up, no idea what I DID want to do instead.  Now granted, I didn't have a family to support, but I also didn't have a husband or any other income for my household and I still had a mortgage to pay.  That was the BEST decision I made and am now in a field I am MUCH happier in!  Sometimes you just gotta take the blind leap of faith!  "The Universe/God conspires FOR you, not against you!"  Someone told me that once and it really hit home with me.
Best of luck in whatever you choose to do!!

I know how you feel. Years ago, my dad had to have an angioplasty (I think. Anyway, he had a clogged artery and they needed to basically drill through the plauqe) He went to Standford to get this done, which I thought was one of the best hospitals around. We were sitting with him after his procedure and they bring his meal in. Included was a huge peice of CAKE. For a heart patient! I was really upset. I know people should have common sense but sadly a lot of people don't know any better. My dad knows better, but he was tempted and ate the damn thing! Hospitals, just like schools should have healthful meals. Neither seem to understand the connection between food and health. I have never once been asked by a doctor what my diet was like. Most don't believe it has any effect on your health or skin. But I guess most would go out of business if people started taking care of themselves  =/  My mom is a nurse. I always tell her I could never be a nurse because there are so many people that just refuse to take care of themselves. I could not deal with it. She says there are some patients that want to learn but a lot of them just refruse to change what they eat or stop smoking and drinking.

Just an idea...  Are there any "alternative" medical facilities nearby?  You would probably need to go back to school, but I would think that a facility specializing in macrobiotics, chinese medicine, or ayurvedic healing would love to have someone on staff who was also a professional RN.