Most easy job in Nursing?

Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 14, 2006

Drysolong said:
This thread has been very interesting to me. I am a LPN recent graduate (3 weeks) and I chose nursing for a number of reasons, but one BIG reason was so that I would not have to work M-F 8-5 and so that I could work nights and weekends, having days off during the week. I have worked for years in a "normal" office enviroment with "normal" workday and hours, paid vacation, holidays, etc. AND I absolutely HATE it!!!
I am so glad that Nursing has so many options. What many seem to dislike about nursing is what I am actually looking forward to. (minus the doctors and nurses with personality disorders)

Same here. I'm not a nurse yet, but I work as a dialysis technician for now. I love working just 4 days a week and having a weekday off. I love it that wherever I go on a weekday I'm not competing with crowds at the bank, grocery store, etc. I don't have to take and extra day off to go to the doctor, and we ALWAYS have Sunday off.

I wasn't planning to stay in dialysis once I got through nursing school. I thought it would be best to at least try something else and see what's out there. After reading this thread I'm not so sure. I might stick with dialysis. AS someone said before, there is lots of autonomy and we don't see the doctors more than an hour a week or so. l thought I might go into surgery because it's so interesting. I hadn't considered having to deal with the doctors and anesthesiologists constantly.

A few people have said that we shouldn't tolerate being yelled at by doctors. What recourse does one have if management won't do anything about it?

Annor · Apr 14, 2006

"""A few people have said that we shouldn't tolerate being yelled at by doctors. What recourse does one have if management won't do anything about it?"""

YELL BACK.....THEN LEAVE AND FIND SOMETHING ELSE!!

harley007 · Apr 14, 2006

I just finished working as a school nurse for two private boarding schools. I do not have my BSN and in my area it is mostly diploma nurses working in these schools. I like this age group of students and get along with them well. Was it an easy job? For the most part the answer is yes. There was the rare nightmare full arrest, a student thrown badly from a horse or a freak accident. I was never the nurse manager so I wasn’t responsible for all of the tedious inoculation, emergency contact, medication and allergy documentation. Now this may sound crazy but there were times when I would go three evenings in a row without seeing even one patient. Naturally, I would get called in on those nights for an emergency! I was so bored that to keep from going insane I organized those clinics so thoroughly that all the linen closets looked like a memorials to neatness. I swear, in the long run, mental boredom can almost be worst that physical exhaustion. The other problem is that the school nursing pay rate is usually much lower. I also noticed that every school makes sure you are keep to a level of work hours that is just below qualifying for benefits.

It does feel independent. But even though you are out there on your own, making good medical decisions it doesn’t mean an unfounded parental complaint or (My favorite.) “We don’t do things that way with our girls” won’t come back to haunted a well grounded treatment. The students were heart broken when I left and there were many tearful goodbyes. But, at my new hospital job I am happy, fulfilled, qualify for wonderful benefits and my pay rate has increased over $10.00 per hour. I guess it is always a matter of … “Easy is as easy does.”

NURSE7429 · Apr 15, 2006

I AM AN LPN WITH 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, I AM CURRENTLY CONSIDERING GOING BACK FOR MY ADN. HOW DO YOU GET STARTED IN MANAGED CARE OR CASE MANGEMENT. ARE THERE SPECIAL CLASSES OR CERTIFICATES THAT I NEED. MY BACK GROUND IS GERIATRICS, MED/SURG AND REHAB NURSING. WOULD A COURSE IN ICD-9 CODES BE HELPFUL FOR MANAGED CARE/INSURANCE

91C_ARMYLPN said:
Hi there!

91C_ARMYLPN said:
May I suggest the Managed Care Industry/ Insurance. Here in California they accept both LVN and RN. Easy job??? My experience has been working for Medical groups and Medical Insurance companies. The plus side: Mon to Fri,
8 am to 5 pm, no weekends/ no on call, highest pay I made was 65 K per year and a benefit package. The negative side: pressure to meet deadlines, multi-tasking, some colleagues who were real ******! No job is perfect. By the way, I am a LVN and the above wages are fantastic.
With the nursing shortage affecting the entire nation, this type of work is a
great opportunity. My friend who is a fresh graduate from a ASN program,
was hired with no previous experience. The company was willing to train her from scratch, though I do recommend having some previous nursing/clinical background. This makes things a little easier.
There is Utilization management, Quality Management, Telephonic/Concurrent review, Pre-Authorization, Inpatient Case Management (hospital), Out of Network Case Management, etc. It can be a rewarding and challenging career. It's up to you to see what will make you happy. Good luck in your future endeavors! :balloons:
91CARMYLPN

icugirl33 · Apr 15, 2006

After 8 months of working as a nurse, I too was tired. During the past 8 months, I transfered from telemetry, to rehab, to e/r. Finally, I decided to try the managed care industry. I start my new job on 5/1 and it's mon-fri 8-5, no weekends, nights, holidays, or disasters. I consider all nursing jobs to be hard, however, you can't beat working behind a desk. I will still continue to work a couple days at the hospital per month because I don't feel that I have enough clinical experience to make me a well rounded nurse yet, at least when it comes to the technical stuff.

Good luck in your quest, keep searching

busykim · Apr 15, 2006

xmasbabe said:
I've worked clinic for 25 years. Would not say it's low stress. The hospital nurses who come to work with us end up quitting. They think it is going to be easy and it is not. There is a lot of work for one nurse to get done on her own, telephone triage, presciptions by the dozen to phone in, families to talk with, test results to phone to patients, cleaning and stocking, and I could go on forever and ever. These are just the "side" duties besides being at the doctor's beck and call at all times.

I think it depends on the clinic and what kind of hospital nursing you do. I work both, and I can tell you that my clinic job (even dealing with everything you listed plus 2 years as clinical manager) vs. my ER job -that the clinic job is cake it's a matter of perspective now, there is almost nothing that could stress me out at the clinic after dealing with the ER. It's made me a better nurse and less likely to stress over "regular" things --just my humble observation. So for now it's a good balance and reality check for me.- Kim

docpsychrn · Apr 15, 2006

how does a nurse find a job in managed care? i mean what am i looking for when i start looking for a job in this area? what about legal consultant nursing? can we work with lawyers in cases that require our expertise without having to take that course they offer for legal consultants?

ortess1971 · Apr 15, 2006

I'm sorry you had such a bad OR experience....They're not all like that. There are actually some surgeons who are a pleasure to work with, and at least in my hospital, they treat the OR nurses with more respect than the floor nurses( I think they know deep down that we can make things very hard for them if they tick us off;) ) As far as finding a nursing job where you won't have to deal with someone being mean to you, I'm not sure any job in the world fits that description...There are always difficult people in the workplace. Speaking for myself, I don't want an "easy" job- I think I'd be bored.

ELimber · Apr 16, 2006

first of all, depending on how long you have been a nurse and where you are working you can't expect to jump into premo day shifts. Dr's office etc may be the one area. To me the easiest is the ER, as that is what fits my personallity. It's not easy work, but I enjoy it and it's busy so there is less time to have to listen to the b****ing. As far as the surgeons go, that will almost always be the case. You have to stand up for yourself and let the bs roll off otherwise you will end up in a psych unit. We all have bad days and need to vent to get it out, don't let them drag you down with them! Good Luck, keep smilin' Eric

azerrn · Apr 20, 2006

Annor said:
"""A few people have said that we shouldn't tolerate being yelled at by doctors. What recourse does one have if management won't do anything about it?"""
YELL BACK.....THEN LEAVE AND FIND SOMETHING ELSE!!

Amen on that! I've spoken to doctors privately after they have been rude and called them on their actions. Their reaction was more along the lines of they didn't realize they were sounding that way. Most important, they haven't been rude to me again.

It was hard the first time I spoke up for myself...it gets easier.

cschuess · May 6, 2006

Don't consider Nurse Manager. It's great pay if you're lucky enough to be hourly (we were for maybe a year) but as salary it stinks. When you average in the hours, I sometimes feel that I make about the same as I did when I first started out as a LPN. The stress is incredibly high for not only are you responsible for your entire unit-->staff and patients, you are also responsible for another hundred things they feel like throwing your way...on call supervision, MDS, PRI's, subcommittees, filling in when the unit is low etc... My God, thinking about it depresses me about my job!!

And as for school nurses...the pay stinks! If you are lucky enough to be a school nurse for middle school and higher you can expect to be extremely busy and frustrated. My friend is a school nurse...her days sound busier than an ER and working with MD's of the children is worse than that of a hospital.

MA Nurse · May 6, 2006

moliuchick said:
School nursing? that sounds great but don't they need bachelor degree?:uhoh21:

yes. I looked into that. need bsn.

kim