by TCM1

Hello There,

Any options for those who are thinking of becoming nurses but cannot handle blood, gore, poo, vomit, death/dying?
This may seem like a stupid question, but I have volunteered in hospitals and worked with elderly and realized this is not for me. I do like nursing as a profession and wonder how I can get in another niche that doesn't involve the above directly or constantly? (EG: without doing advanced schooling....anesthetics, practitioners etc.)

Thanks!

Re: ANY Options in Management or Admin?

Speaking of America... I do not know of Canada...

It is not a stupid question.. but I am confused by your post. The reason your post confuses me is because you stated that you like nursing but you do not want to work in direct patient care at all. What do you like about nursing if you are not fascinated by caring for patients? How do you tell me, a Staff RN, how to do my job safely if you don't personally like my job and you do not have any experience doing my job? Some nurses choose to move away from direct patient care for various reasons, but they do not do so before obtaining experience.

If you want to run a clinical floor, department, etc. you need to be a Nurse or MD (Mainly a Nurse since most MDs want to work in a different capacity) with direct patient care experience. The reason being, a safe administrator is one who understands direct patient care. One gains that understanding from being a person with the right license and work experience.

Are you asking how can you become an administrator and not become a nurse? The only other way I know of around the above requirement is to join the military. Sometimes the military will hire non-nurses and/or non-physicians to run clinical setting but that Officer in charge has years of experience running units... In fact, you would need to work your way up the ranks before you would be anywhere near a clinic without a health care license. Plus, there is no guarantee that you would be able to run a clinical setting because the military hires/transfers based upon need as well as experience, fitness rep.. etc.

However, if you wish to be a hospital administrator that does not run a clinical setting but runs another department, then you can get a degree in Business, Health Care, Finance, Risk Management, etc.. In the civilian world there are departments that you can work for that support the clinical setting and allow you to collaborate with physicians and nurses to provide safe care. For example Risk Management, Quality Assurance, Finance, Maintenance, Housekeeping, and Sterilization are a few excellent supports.

Re: ANY Options in Management or Admin?

You may want to look into a degree in health care administration and maybe couple that with nursing. There are many schools that offer this as adult education where you attend only 1 night per week. I think you can also check it out online. Good luck!