Nurses who DON'T work in a hospital, what do you do?

Hey there!

I currently work as an LPN in a very high volume Docs office. We do emergency care, occupational health care and also primary care. The daily patient/client load runs in the 50s and has been as high as the low 70s. Yep we really hop on some days! No all are doc visits, some are nursing only visits (lab draws, theraputic injections from standing orders, commercial drug/alcohol screens etc). I've been doing this for the past year now. I gotta say I love it! High volume, short duration, fast paced! I've been an LPN for 22+ years, though I must say I haven't worked in the field that long. I spent the last 20 in L/E. Prior to that I worked in the hospital setting in psyc, some Med/Surg, and ER. Yes, ER as an LPN......that was as a direct result of an EMS background.

I must say though, my current position suits me rather well. I plan on starting an RN program shortly and in that capacity would like to jump back into ER work for a while, but still would ultimately seek a position in a facility such as the one I'm in right now. Guess I'm always gonna be a "type-A" junkie! LOL!!!!!

I have two jobs.
First, I have been a charge nurse in a small LTC home on a native reservation. I do 5 med passes on the day shift for 50 residents. I deal with Down Syndrome, Parkinsons, Huntingtons, Alzheimers, limited mobility due to age, Organic Brain Syndrome, CHF, Stroke, Diabetes, etc as all of our residents reside on one floor and are not segregated. I have 5 PSW's working with me and a nurse manager at the desk. I am also responsible for 3 housekeepers and 3 dietary staff as well as any volunteers scheduled that day. I arrive at 6 am to do med count, get verbal report and catch up on new orders etc. I punch in at 7 am and begin med run #1. At 9:30 am i hang 4 PEG feeds and do med run #2. At 11:30 i do med run #3. At 1400 i do med run#4. At 1500 i do all my wound care (typically 5- 6 diabetic ulcers). At 1600 i hang 4 PEG feeds again. At 1645 i do med run#5. At 1800 i clean med room and do charting. I typically leave the facility at 1930.

Second, I work in the Nursing Health Services Research Unit at McMaster University, Hamilton ON Canada. I arrive at 8 am and scan email, table of contents for research journals and news headlines for anything related to our research. I reply to emails, schedule interviews, sit in on meetings, transcribe audio interviews, etc. I also conduct interviews, work with statistical data. From day to day the work changes but most of it is done at a desk in front of a computer.

I like both my jobs, and i like the variety of having both of them.

Cheers, Amy

I work independently in the home setting. I make myself available to medicaid clients and the client is the boss. I love what I do. My experience with hospitals and long term were less than satisfactory. I loved the people, hated all the administration problems. Now I work the hours I choose, and own my own business. It has been a real challenge at times but worth it to me. I've been independent for 6 months. My husband is self employed and he inspired me to take the leap. I am now a happy nurse. Good luck to you.

Clincal Research Nurse at a University. ADN. Never worked as a nurse in a hospital, but prior to this I was an office nurse (primarily Ob/Gyn) for 10 years. RN for 14 years now.

I did work in hospitals as a unit secretary for 15 years before I became a nurse.

I'm an LPN and work as a med nurse in a jail, and I love it. I'm agency right now, but have about 50.5 hours to go before they can hire me on permanently.

Before this I worked in LTC for just under a year and hated it. I'm much happier now and have the weight loss to prove it!

I'm going to go back to school for my BSN, and will probably stay at the jail when I'm done.

I just sent you a PM. I very much want to go into this specialty. This topic is great and is very inspiring. I hope people keep contributing.

I am a LPN, I will start my new job as an office nurse(OB/GYN) on monday. Prior to that I was a nurse working for American Red Cross. Loved it just hated the long hours away from home with the travel. Have a teenager at home.

Yeah but, there's a down side. Don't get me wrong ... I also work for the California state prison system and the pay is great ... I'm not complaining ... but to make $11,000 a month with OT you've pretty much got to be working all of the time.

Basically to bring home an extra $3K after taxes, you've got to work two extra eight hour shifts a week so ... either you're going in at 6 a.m. and leaving at ten o'clock at night at least a couple of days a week or ...

You're going in on one or both of your two days off (we typically work 5 eight hour shifts a week).

So you can get pretty tired working that much OT.

I work in the Hospice field with a case management of 12. I to out to their homes and JUST LOVE IT... I am the most happiest, contented and at peace in the 30 years of my nursing career. I pray I never have to work in the hospital setting again!!!!

I currently work in Clinical Research as a certified clinical research coordinator ( CCRC). I've been a nurse for 30 years and previously worked in a hospital setting for many, many years. My speciality was labor and delivery and I maintain a certification in that field as well.. I absolutely love what I do. Of course I have a great boss that allows me to have autonotomy with my schedule. I see a variety of different patients/subjects on a daily basis depending on the clinical trial that I am working on.. it varies from diabetes, testosterone, hypertension, and heart failure. I no longer work weekends or holidays and the pay is comparable to what I made in the hospital. I feel like I found some sort of secret society.. there is actually an appreciation for what I do and I feel like I"m helping people. I knew I wanted out of the hospital setting ( I was tired of being run ragget) and began doing some "research" about working in a research environment.. I stumbled into something good via networking. Each day I have a mix of actual clinical skills, EKG's, labs, teaching, drug accountability along with a giant papertrail but it's all good. I do a bit of travel at times when I am beginning a new trial to learn about the protocol... I feel like I'm treated well and respected in my position.

Karen
aka Raven