Add'l jobs for RN's other than bedside

hinakhoja · May 4, 2008

I am from Pakistan and I also have chosen working in the areas other than bedside. In our hospital the available options other than bedside are listed below however, I am not sure whether it is applicable in your area or not.

Vaccination Nurse.
Acute and chronic pain management nurse.
Quality Assurance Nurse (Currently I am working on this position. Nurse conducts hospital's internal quality audits as per JCIA and ISO standards, checks medical records documentation as per JCIA documentation standards and its rectifications and some other quality projects)
Nurse Case Manager (For this you must have an experience of bedside).
Community Health Nurse (If it suits with your interest area as I have worked in a research project for 2.5 years and it was a very good experience).
We also have specialized nurses who update the hospital's policies and procedures, nursing documentation forms that are being used at bedsides by nurses etc.
You can join school of nursing as a faculty but here they send for 1year bedside experience before hiring.
Outpatient areas i.e. clinics are also preferred by nurses other than bedside.

Good luck!

angel337, MSN, RN · May 4, 2008

most nontraditional nursing jobs will not even give you an interview unless you have at least a year under your belt taking care of patients and then you will be competing with other nurses with way more experience for the same job. the knowledge you gain at the bedside is priceless. i encourage anyone that wants to obtain a nursing degree get "nursing" experience first before they leap out for the M-F positions. there are people out there that went straight from nursing school into a M-F job but it isn't the norm. also it is better to gain bedside experience first because if that office job downsizes and eliminates your position at least you will have skills to fall back on.

jml444 · May 4, 2008

D&Ggirl -
I certainly don't mean to suggest that bedside nursing is the only nursing. I do, however, argue that it is foundational. If you read the posts from the nurses doing non-bedside nursing you will find that they suggest their careers benefited from a period of hospital practice.
One cannot effectively manage nurses (or anybody for that matter) without the knowledge of their job gained by doing their job. I doubt one can be an effective case manager without having handled cases.
To suggest that "if you work somewhere and dont enjoy your job, its going to take a toll on your health" might be true after 10 years or so but I very much doubt that a year or two of hospital nursing will take a toll on your health. As for patients getting good care - this is completely within your control. Quality care is not a function of how much you like your work - it is a function of how much you are committed working hard for your patients.
So, the free advice from the non-yet-a-nurse old man with 20+ years of experience in the business world - suck it up, and work for a year or so in the hospital. Trust me, it wont kill you. And you will learn something, if not about pt care then about how nurses work.

CZYJA,

Thanks for your post. I agree with most of what you said. I am the one who started this thread, because I was interested in finding out the other possibilities/opportunities for nurses, but I am definitely going to work in a hospital for at least a couple of years because I know that you have to get that experience to fully understand and contribute effectively to other types of positions.

I have 15 years of experience in various healthcare settings from home health to Home IV therapy, case management, to health insurance companies, etc but always on the administrative/finance side of things. I went back to school for nursing because I was really tired of the desk jobs and wanted to work directly with patients and get the satisfaction you get from helping somebody. But because all of my experience is in an office, the bedside does scare me a little bit. I graduate in 3 weeks and will start working this summer and I do look forward to making one on one connections with patients and helping them and I really really hope I come to love the bedside- I was just looking ahead in sort of a "just in case" mode. Thank you for your input. Oh...the only thing I don't agree with you on is the statement about a couple of years in a job you hate won't affect your health. I don't know, I think you could be pretty miserable if you had to go week after week to a job that you despised- if not your physical health.....your mental health would definitely be at risk- as well as the health of your family if mommy (or daddy) is miserable!!!

bargainhound, RN · May 4, 2008

I agree that being miserable in your job can effect your health in every way no matter

how short .........months can hurt you mentally and physically and also socially as well

as your family's well-being as they see the effects on you and cope with the effects

that trickle to them. It is not worth it to stay in a job like that; although it is sometimes

hard to find the job that you really like/fit into without so much stress.

I believe it is best to keep looking/trying other things until you do find the job that

fits.

I also believe that as we go through our career lives, this changes for us, and we

enjoy different things as we go through our lives.

czyja, MSN, RN · May 5, 2008

Oh...the only thing I don't agree with you on is the statement about a couple of years in a job you hate won't affect your health. I don't know, I think you could be pretty miserable if you had to go week after week to a job that you despised- if not your physical health.....your mental health would definitely be at risk- as well as the health of your family if mommy (or daddy) is miserable!!!

jml444-

It looks like you have a broad range of work experience - I reckon you will be success in whatever field you choose. Good luck!

With regard to happiness at work...

Over the course of my management career I observed that there are people who are happy with their job, no matter what the job is, and their are people who aren't happy with their job, not matter what the job is. Stated another way, happiness is an internal process that is based on a number of factors - the actual job one does is of little account.

Throughout the course of human history one had no choice in the work one did. Career choice is a recent phenomenon largely confined to western countries. Very few of the billion plus people in India have a choice in their career. Are Indians any less happy than Americans? Are they less healthy (when corrected for income, etc)? I don't know for sure, but I doubt they are significantly less happy than us.

That said, I am mighty glad to be in the position to choose nursing for my second career. I dunno if it will make me happier - I will settle for feeling like I have postively affected the lives of some fellow humans.

jml444 · May 6, 2008

jml444-
Originally posted by CZYJA :
"With regard to happiness at work...
Stated another way, happiness is an internal process that is based on a number of factors - the actual job one does is of little account.
Throughout the course of human history one had no choice in the work one did. Career choice is a recent phenomenon largely confined to western countries. Very few of the billion plus people in India have a choice in their career. Are Indians any less happy than Americans? Are they less healthy (when corrected for income, etc)? I don't know for sure, but I doubt they are significantly less happy than us. /quote] "
my reply:
That is a VERY interesting perspective!! I had never thought of it that way before. In the United States we are so used to having lots and lots of choices that I guess we tend to forget that there is a large part of the world that don't have that luxury- yet they make the most out of their life. I, like you, plan on my job satisfaction coming from the good feeling you get from helping people and seeing the difference you make in someone's life/hospital experience. Thank you again for your very interesting and enlightening perspective on this issue and good luck to you as well !!

Bhavana · Sep 14, 2010

Hoteliers, teachers, lawyers, physicians, engineers, scientists, every job I can thinks of - all "learn" the job in the first years post education. For example, passing the bar exam enables one to legally practice law, but no decent law firm will let you handle even the simplest case without some level of supervision when you fresh out of school. Education gives one a theoretical understanding that must be augmented by practical knowledge.

On the day I interviewed at nursing school I met a woman that honestly told me she was not interested in toileting patients, making beds etc. I looked at her and said "Why, in the name of heaven, do you want to go to school here and take a slot away from somebody that actually wants to be a nurse?" She offered no response. I hope her interviewer asked the same question

When I graduate from nursing school the first thing on my agenda is to learn nursing and the only way I can see doing this is by working at the bedside under the tutelage and supervision of experienced nurses.

I hate to be rude - but I suggest you man-up or woman-up, get a job, and learn to be a nurse. Then look for an alternative job.

My Reply:

I am not interested in toileting patients and making beds all day. If I was, I'd have become a nurses aid/assistant, and not wasted all this time and money getting my RN. Also, there are MANY positions today for nurses that don't involve bedside care, some that don't even involve working with patients. People become nurses for all kinds of reasons, and they deserve the slots at nursing schools just as much as those looking forward to toileting and bed making.

PennyAnn4J · Jul 21, 2011

I'm sure you do what you are supposed to do for your patients. But stating "suck it up" and saying that being miserable for a year or two won't hurt a person...I hope this is not the type of attitude your patients get...pretty scary.