Office nurses ARE real nurses!!

[BSN75]

Is anyone else sick of hearing that nurses who don't work in hospitals are not real nurses? If I hear one more person say "all you do is take blood pressures all day" I'm going to scream! I understand how hard it is to work in a hospital- did it for a few years and did not enjoy it. What I do enjoy is preventive care- trying to keep my patients well and out of the hospital as much as possible. Different ends of the spectrum, I agree, but it doesn't make me any less of a nurse!

[HeartsOpenWide, RN]

This is from a lack of knowledge I am sure. You should write an article on here about all that you do as an office nurse; help people to understand what it is you do.

When people ask my why I did not become an Obstetrician instead of a OB nurse I tell them "When I was a kid I said 'I want to be the doctor the delivers the babies', but that was before I knew it was the nurses that really did all the fun stuff"

[DogWmn]

I loved being a clinic nurse and hope to go back soon. As previous posters stated, we do A LOT, I worked in full service Rural Family Practice Clinics and that included OB and Peds.

The pay wasn't great, but my day was never never boring and it always went by fast! Oh and pretty good hours too. I enjoyed the variety, patient teaching and I learned something new each day. When you work with a good set of Docs it's a dream and you do feel a part of a team to create better health for your community.

There are some down sides to rural nursing, patients will come up to you at the grocery store, the gas station, the movie theater, when your eating dinner out asking about this and that:icon_roll. I had to change my unlisted phone about once a year to keep the call volume down. But in the end when I get my refresher and return to nursing that's where I hope to head.

[BSN75]

DogWmn, it's so funny that you mention seeing the patients outside the clinic. While I don't get calls at home, I do see my patients eveywhere! One night I had a woman take off her shoes and socks and show me a rash on her feet while I was waiting in line at my sons parent-teacher conference. And I usually can't go to Walmart without getting a few questions!

[PACNWNURSING]

I worked for Kaiser as an LPN and the big draw for RNs to the Ambulatory setting was the pay and schedule, work days no weekends no holidays.... Paywise they made the same as hospital nurses except with no differential and this is rare. Usually nurses make less in the outpatient setting.... The negative was the type of work, most of the RNs were used for telephone work and no direct patient care. The big problem is nurses can lose their skills and knowledge if they do not have direct patient care in these settings. I believe this is the reason a negative opinion can be formed about ambulatory nursing.

[ms_orion]

I worked as a "clinic"nurse for years and always felt "less than" a "real" nurse. We moved out of state and I applied at a hospital. I have been there 3 years now. Oh, yeah..I have learned skills I hadnt done before. Truthfully? I learned and did more as an office nurse than I am doing as a hospital nurse. In the clinic I worked side-by-side with physicians. I gained so much knowledge from them. I aquired their trust and respect and they taught me things. In the hospital environment, only a select few are trusted and respected by physicians. I dont get to spend quality time with patients....its almost factory like... "production" .... continuing education is offered, but the only people who can attend are those who are on light duty and are not able to work anyway. No, I used to be on of "those" who thought a clinic nurse was not a "real" nurse. HAHA....No way.....Clinic nurses work hard..we get to use our brain..(YES...hospital administrators and arrogant physicians..NURSES DO HAVE BRAINS!)... interact and really help our patients I am going back to the clinic. Just as soon as I find the right fit.