Amusement Park nursing?

Bruce_Wayne, ASN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

I was just musing about that the other day, lol. I don't know the answer to your question. But on a similar line of thought, I've thought that it would be "fun" to be a nurse on a cruise ship too.

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

I was just musing about that the other day, lol. I don't know the answer to your question. But on a similar line of thought, I've thought that it would be "fun" to be a nurse on a cruise ship too.

See, different strokes for different folks. I don't think cruise ship nursing would be fun at all. I guess if the entire boat were vet. cruise vacationers, it'd be fine. But I bet you get a lot of people on their "fist voyage" who are sea sick the whole time.

:lol2: Then again, not like they are given a call bell or anything for their room.

Orange Tree · Mar 10, 2011

That sounds really funny to me for some reason. I'd freak out if someones legs got cut off on a ride and they called me. Wait...that's not the funny part, though. Those were two separate thoughts. I guess I'm getting tired.

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

I think it'd be awesome to be a nurse (or NP) with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corpos and attached to the National Park Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Marshal's Service, or U.S. Coast Guard. USPHS brings military officer's pay, other benefits, and retirement. Can't beat that.

I'd try cruise ships and wouldn't mind giving amusement parks a whirl. It'd depend on salary and benefits.

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

I'd love to be the nurse on the space station....except I get motion sickness on an elevator, so possibly not the best fit....

BrookeeLou_RN · Mar 10, 2011

Apparently jobs at theme parks are good ones.. very seldom hear of any openings and the one I talked to said they rehire the same nurses year after year. I was told they prefer ER or Occupational health exp. I have heard of openings on cruise ships. Each to his own!

juliaann · Mar 10, 2011

I'd love to be the nurse on the space station....except I get motion sickness on an elevator, so possibly not the best fit....

I was just thinking a few days ago about how awesome that would be!!

MurrR · Mar 10, 2011

I was just musing about that the other day, lol. I don't know the answer to your question. But on a similar line of thought, I've thought that it would be "fun" to be a nurse on a cruise ship too.

Have you looked into it? I did some research - it sounds pretty demanding, and a lot of the things they require are extreme, but it could also be totally fun.

One of the common set ups seems to be where you work a shift, you're on-call for the next shift, and then you have the whole next day off. Rinse, repeat. Another common thing is that they'll often required between 7 to 10 years of ER or ICU experience. Interestingly, because there's often few or no techs of any kind on board you do all your own labs and tests and everything. I think it'd be an awesome experience to be a sort of one-person show, so to speak. Some ships only have one or two nurses and a doctor, some of the bigger ones can have as many as three doctors and three to four nurses.

Personally, I'd like to be a camp nurse at some point but the amusement park thing sounds like a pretty awesome gig too!

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

Apparently jobs at theme parks are good ones.. very seldom hear of any openings and the one I talked to said they rehire the same nurses year after year. I was told they prefer ER or Occupational health exp. I have heard of openings on cruise ships. Each to his own!

Yeah. I hear at the park near me there are basically two full timers every year (same one's) and then they need help filling in the gaps for when one of them needs a day off. One only wants to do 8hr shifts (park is open noon to midnight, sometimes closes down at 2230 if its slow) so there are little 2 and 4 hour periods all over you can pick up too. Still, to get your foot in the door for when one of them stops showing up...................

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

Have you looked into it? I did some research - it sounds pretty demanding, and a lot of the things they require are extreme, but it could also be totally fun.
One of the common set ups seems to be where you work a shift, you're on-call for the next shift, and then you have the whole next day off. Rinse, repeat. Another common thing is that they'll often required between 7 to 10 years of ER or ICU experience. Interestingly, because there's often few or no techs of any kind on board you do all your own labs and tests and everything. I think it'd be an awesome experience to be a sort of one-person show, so to speak. Some ships only have one or two nurses and a doctor, some of the bigger ones can have as many as three doctors and three to four nurses.
Personally, I'd like to be a camp nurse at some point but the amusement park thing sounds like a pretty awesome gig too!

I kinda figured they'd want ER experience for the Theme Park job too.

highlandlass1592, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

When I've looked into working at amusement parks (or at Disney, my dream job) I didn't see anything about ER experience. I did see request for first aid, BLS and in one instance ACLS. One I looked into was strictly for OHS for employees, another was a first responder in the park. I'll get to it one day.

Looked into cruise nursing..they wanted too long of a commitment and you don't get a lot of down time. Not what I'm looking for.