Want to be a nurse in Doctor's Office...which degree? ASN or BSN RN?

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SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS

1 Article; 1,406 Posts

Specializes in nursing education.
I am not 100% against hospital nursing, in fact, it was my first thought when I started looking into nursing as an option. I love the idea of the more challenging environment. I think I would love to work in OB or Pediatrics. I don't want to be stuck taking blood pressures and weights for the rest of my career, but I figured there may be some challenging options in nursing in the doctor's office side of things. It may just be wishful thinking on my part.

To be honest, I was all about hospital nursing until I really started reading the comments on this site. :unsure: I have read so many people talk about how miserable hospital nursing is. From the long hours, understaffed crew, mistreatment from doctors/co-workers/patients to how hard it is to find a new grad position and how stressful the shifts are. I am at a serious cross roads here!

UGH!!!

Maybe I do have a unicorn job but...keep in mind we are "high volume/low acuity." Meaning, our patients aren't super sick but there are a lot of them and we are busy! The number of calls in a day is astounding and in our clinic, nurses get almost all of them. It's a challenge. Say, in an ICU setting, you have two patients, even with an admit and discharge or what have you, you might have a total of 3 patients in your busy 12 hour shift; in med surg you might have 6 or 8. In our clinic, between phone calls, walk-ins, and handling patient complaints, you might deal with 50 in a day.

gatoraims RN

219 Posts

In my area many offices hire LPNs and MAs. They pay around 12 dollars an hour compared to LPNs at other facilities making 18 or so an hour. I however do think that they want at least a year of experience prior to hiring you in an office. RN school is hard and it takes time away from your family. It seems like I am in school, studying, or in clincials ALL the time. All but one of my children are in school so this helps. I do sometimes feel guilty for leaving the "baby" (she is 3) in pre-school but she LOVES it. Begs to go when she is at home.

When I was looking for a job as a LPN I had the hardest time. I found one in a psych long term care facility.Most of my fellow students found jobs as LPN's in LTCs. Some of them fresh out of school got jobs Mon-Fri 6am-3pm.

I am not sure what MA school is like.But PN school was 18 mths it cost 7000 for books and tuition. I liked working with the pts at my first job as an LPN but did not like the facility. So I decided to get my RN. I am going to try to get a night job when I graduate. This way I will be home at least Christmas morning to see the kids open their gifts and other holidays. I might be sleeping most of the day away but I will be there. Just an idea, not sure if you can do nights of not.

No one can tell you what is best for you and your situation. However for what you want right now it might be best like others have said spend a few months becoming a MA or LPN. If you think when the kids are older that you might want to be an RN I would get your LPN, in my area having my LPN cuts a semester off of the program. Plus much of my first semester was a review of what I had learned in PN school (refreshing clinical skills, a brief review of the systems and major illnesses).

Best of luck to you.

rammstein

27 Posts

Specializes in ER volunteer.

My hospital has an outpatient building, for general outpatient care as one would get in a non-hospital affiliated doctor's office. almost all those offices run M-F 9-5 or something close to it (some might start at 8 and close at 6 or 7). So don't rule out all hospital jobs as being guaranteed odd hours.

CDEWannaBe

456 Posts

Could you be a school nurse? They have a page under the specialties section where you might be able to learn more about how to get that type of job.

I have a friend from church who has been a school nurse for 20 years. Now that her kids are out of school she also picks up extra shifts at a hosptial.

Ah. I'm the nurse manager for an ASC, and we DO use RNs (and LPNs) but I wouldn't consider hiring ANYONE who couldn't show me several years' worth of acute care experience. RNs in recovery need to know what to do, what to look for in someone "going south", and I'd never take someone fresh out of school for that. If someone does, well...I hope it works out for everyone. We're a small center and can't afford to have a newbie RN; it's the RN everyone will turn to for direction in a patient crisis.

Anyway, by now the OP must realize what's ahead of her, at least generally speaking.

This is true in most cases, but my graduating cohort has seemed to find the DONs who understand that with the right training it can be done. As the CNO that hired me said "I find it best to grow my own"

sueall

151 Posts

No apology needed, mrspolly! You were seeking information, which is a significant reason for the existence of this forum! If money is not a major concern, then CMA (certified medical assistant) would be the way to go. The pay is low, but so are the time demands. With experience, you may be able to move into higher-paying positions such as office manager or the like. If you go CMA, stick with community colleges if available -- the private schools are expensive and the quality varies greatly. Or look closely at LPN/LVN -- again, less money than RN, but with experience you can work in clinics or schools, depending on your location. As others have noted, opportunities as an RN will be very limited without first gaining that oh-so essential hospital experience -- it's just the nature of the beast as it currently stands.

Your interests include children and education and you say you are a natural nurturer -- is teaching/early intervention/education out of the question? If you add "science" and "healthcare" to the equation, have you considered being a pediatric physical therapist or physical therapy assistant?

mrspolly

13 Posts

Sueall, funny you should mention teaching! That is actually my other idea. I think the more I think about it, the more I am going to have to leave the idea of nursing behind :( I really thought it may be the answer to my future, but the more I weigh the pros/cons, the more I see that it just may not be the correct fit for me. I do think I would love the actual work, it's just everything else about it (the gruelling and expensive schooling, how hard it is to find a new grad position, the stress of the job, the hours and schedule, and the fact that most nurses I've heard from seem to really dislike their jobs) that doesn't make it the best choice at this time in my life. If I were 18 again, just starting college, I would go for it, but I don't have the luxury of time and selflessness anymore. It's more of a family decision and not so much a personal one.

I really do love this forum and all that I've learned from reading all these great posts. I don't think I could have come to this conclusion so quickly otherwise.

So, anyone know anything about teaching!?!? :)

JustBeachyNurse, LPN

13,952 Posts

Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Teachers, unless a highly qualified math or science teacher, are also having very difficult times finding employment these days. It too is not a recession proof career. In my area many of the new grad teachers are taking jobs as $8/hr paraprofessionals/teaching assistance just to get themselves known in the school district or $40-$70/day substitute teachers. Granted the majority of the new teachers hired in my local districts have all previously worked for the school district as paraprofessionals/aides before getting hired (kind of like some nurses get highly coveted specialty positions in facilities that they worked as a CNA/NA/tech/PCA in during nursing school).

Two of my patients have one or two teachers as parents. One mom would quit tomorrow if it wasn't for tenure and all the years she put in thus far (she'll lose her meager pension if she leaves before the union contracted designated retirement age/seniority point and actually the teaching staff took an across the board pay cut/hike in benefit cost to save the jobs of 12 ancillary workers). My sister left teaching two years ago (she was a master's level dual certified (regular & special education) teacher) after taking a few speech pathology courses. She doubled her salary working as an "emergency certificated" school SLP (speech-language pathologist) and is now finishing up her graduate degree to be fully certified as a speech language pathologist. Her program, just like many others, was highly competitive for admissions.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Only you know what will work best for you and your family.

ETA: Just know that although it is competetive for jobs, I do not regret for one minute going to nursing school and my present career. Though there are good days and bad, silly high-school-like games played by some coworkers, I am strong enough in self to keep on going strong.

koi310

70 Posts

If you're still interested in the healthcare field, I'd look at Speech therapy, audiology, PT, OT, PTA, OTA.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN

4 Articles; 7,907 Posts

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
Nursing homes in most states tend to staff with 8-hour shifts. Due to Medicare reimbursements, many of these facilities need RNs on site to work the medication carts, supervise, and/or perform the skills that are not within the LPN's scope of practice.

If you are willing to work in a local nursing home, you could easily obtain a day job (Monday through Friday from 7:00 to 3pm or 6:00 to 2pm).

Psych facilities tend to staff in 8 hour shifts as well.

Also consider outpatient/ambulatory care/same day programs that are affiliated with your local hospital. If not strictly daylight M-F hours, at least the hours in those programs are not as crazy as those you'd find on a hospital floor.

P_RN, ADN, RN

6,011 Posts

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

I have an optometrist- he has 2 off the street assistants -works fine

I have an ophthalmologist-1 optometric assistant certified and 1 surgical nurse works fine

I have a gynecologist-1 RN (former Miss ___state___) 2 LPNs-works fine (he does a lot of botox, esthetics etc.)

I have a cardiologist-practice has 16 APNs 16 RNs 12 PAs-works fine

I have an internist 1 LPN-former Navy corpsman for 16 years, 2 medical assistants with 20+ years experience with him-works fine.

Therefore If at sometime in the future when the kids are grown, you need to make more money whatever-go for the BSN, you can work part time at any doctors' office who will have you.

HippyDippyLPN

351 Posts

I am an LPN and working in a clinical FP. In our area all the Ped's offices are staffed by only LPN's and RN's ( there are exceptions of course). I got the FP job because I applied for the Ped one and I nailed it but they already had two RN's pretty much picked out for the Ped side so instead of hiring an MA for the FP side, they created the job for me : ) I was very appreciative and still am. It is possible to get into clinics w/o extensive experience. I had two years of LTC under my belt and almost 2 years in an allergy clinic.

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