advice for aspiring pre-professional

[mightymurse01]

Hello everyone!

I am in need of some serious insight from current RNs who.work in the public health sector of nursing. I am currently in the process of applying to nursinf schools but I have almost zero knowledge of nursing careers outside of acute/long term bedside nursing. I completed a direct patient care internship this past year where I worked over 300 hours on a medical pulmonary and a general medical surgical floor. In addition, I currently work as a patient sitter at the same hospital and will soon be a telemetry technician. From all of this exposure, I have learned many things with the main one: being at the bedside, while incredibly rewarding with very little complacency, is not something I see myself doing long term. Instead, I could definitely see myself in a health education type role. I am a physiology and pathophysiology junkie. Any chance I get, I explain to a friend or family member the s/s of a disease, healthy lifestyle choices to.avoid the disease and measures to take to reverse the disease process. While many of my guy freinds want the rush of the ICU or ED, I see myself working in a clinic educating a Mexican father about the risks.of his hypertension and how he can modify his salt intake to help Lower his blood pressure. The joy I get from teaching someone something that they knew nothing about is a feeling I cannot put into.words. if bedside nursing was the only Avenue in nursing, I probably would pursue a degree in public health or social welfare, but I chose nursing because I want a career that will provide me the necessary medical training and knowledge to serve underserved communities as a true medical professional. With that said, what avenues in public health/community nursing can I take? Where can I realistically expect to find employment as a new grad (if anywhere)? What steps should I be taking as far as volunteering at clinics and so forth in order to make myself as marketable as possible when school is finished? I know I could ask the nurses I work with but I thought I would give you lovely ladies and gentleman the floor first. Any input is much appreciated!!!

[klone, MSN, RN]

Are you married with kids? If not, I'd say to get your BSN and then go work for the Peace Corps.

[SiwanRN]

It's possible to get hired as a new grad in a public health role (I was), but it depends on where you are looking and what you are interested in. Federally qualified health centers, local public health departments, the Indian Health Service, these are all good places to look. There are lots of varied roles for nurses within public health, too - some do more patient education like you are interested in, and others may not deal with patients at all if they are in a program planning role. If it is possible for you to identify what role in public health you would be interested in as a nurse, that can guide you with whatever volunteer or extracurricular or employment opportunities you might work on during school. Someone who is interested in emergency preparedness and disaster response might consider joining the local medical reserve corps, for example. If maternal-child health is more your thing, then volunteering with a charity or agency that serves that population specifically would be a good move, and so on. As many wide and varied roles as there are for nurses in the acute care settings and at the bedside, there are equally as many in the community and public health sectors. You'll have to narrow down your interests in what you want your role to be before determining if a specific volunteer opportunity would be of benefit to you.

On another note, if you really enjoy explaining pathophysiology and health promotion for chronic conditions, you could also look into becoming a certified diabetic educator nurse.

Klone also gave some pretty stellar advice - Peace Corps would definitely get you that health promotion and education experience. You can also do that before nursing school too! Where I work, former Peace Corps volunteers definitely have an extra oomph on their resume when applying for jobs.

Best of luck to you in your journey.