anyone choosing or chose NOT to go into the HOSPITAL??

honeykrown, MSN, NP · Aug 23, 2011

I chose not to go into the hospital in 2007 when i graduated for various reasons. I went into home health. I just got hired in a hospital (Another decision i just made) and trust me it has been hard. I have lost almost all my skills (except i am very good at assessment) and the new grad i orient with is running circles around me. Somethings i know the procedure but since i have not used them i am mostly clumsy. I will tell you to be sure you want to do this because mostly your skills and knowledge of somethings would be lost unless you go to a place where most of your skills would be utilized.

Riseupandnurse · Aug 23, 2011

The latest NCSBN survey showed that 89% of new grads went into med-surg, and most of the rest into the hospital at some level. I think new nurses really need hospital experience. I can't imagine how my career would have been limited had I not done that.

LevitateMe, RN · Aug 23, 2011

I think I agree. I am just kind of wondering if it would be just as reasonable to get on someplace I can get my life back together and work on my BSN before I start in a busy hospital. I feel like until I lose weight and get in good shape I wont be as efficient in the hospital, I feel like that holds me back..... plus even if I waited and got my BSN I could get an internship even if I wasn't a brand new RN right? I mean it looks like lots of the internship programs are available to nurses "re-entering" the workforce so wouldn't that apply to an RN who just got her BSN???. . .. . . . . decisions. all hospitals here say on the job description they prefer BSN to ADN.

honeykrown, MSN, NP · Aug 23, 2011

In this day and age, most of the hospitals are not giving internships to most new grads. I just finished my BSN also but then most RN-BSN courses are mostly leadership classes and the clinicals dont go indepth.

Be ready to stay in the loop, reading adn watching skills. Even volunteering in the hospitals just to keep your skills up ( i am telling you this cos i jsut encouraged you to go for the clinic position)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 23, 2011

I've been a nurse for 5+ years (four years as an LVN/LPN and a little more than one year as an RN), and I have never worked at an acute care hospital. I spent all of my years as an LVN in LTC facilities, and now that I am an RN, I am working at a freestanding acute rehab hospital at the present time.

I received a job offer to work at a regional hospital on the med/surg unit with oncology overflow, but I rejected the offer due to the low pay, distance from my house, and the ratio of 1 nurse to 8 patients.

People fail to realize that non-hospital healthcare settings are the wave of the future. Hospital stays are becoming increasingly shorter, and there's a major push to perform as many procedures as possible outside the hospital due to cost containment. Let's face it: hospital care is very expensive, and the bean counters are continually looking for ways to move patient care outside this setting.

Chamae01 · Aug 23, 2011

I have spent the last 4 years on med/surg and now I am sooooo ready to get out of the hospital. I graduate from the bridge program in May so I will be exploring my options then. I am glad that I have the experience though. You definitely get to use every skill you learn pretty much on a daily basis when working on m/s in a hospital. IMO I think it's best to start off in the hospital so you can use what you've learned so that you don't forget how to do something and you become very comfortable performing all the different skills.

Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN · Aug 23, 2011

I agree w/ the commuter. I have never had any desire to work in the hospital. For one thing, the pay is very low in my area. I am earning more money as an LPN than many RN's in the hospital setting. I began in LTC and have been in hospice for the past 12 years.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Aug 23, 2011

My first job landed in my lap. I'd been an agency CNA, and the week after I graduated, I took the job at a LTC/SNF where I'd been sent frequently as a CNA (night nurse went on maternity leave)..I was the only RN educated person in the building- hadn't taken boards yet (1985). It was good- I had a lot of trachs, resp treatments, meds of all sorts, etc....so it was very good for getting my feet wet. I moved out of state 6 months later, and got a hospital job then...my LTC job was a really good prep to hospital nursing- especially time management. :)

StellaMarisRN · Aug 23, 2011

Personally, I'd have to say that whether or not you want to start off in a hospital depends on where you want to "go" later on. I myself started off in a hospital because that was simply where I received my first job offer and I needed the money asap. The economy had everything to do with it. I wish that I could have started off in a clinic because I wanted to do more of the 'Public Health' route than the 'Hospital' route, but there were no Public Health clinic jobs where I lived. A lot of clinics require that you have clinic experience, so I'm not sure even now if they'd want to hire me, even though I'm an ICU nurse in the hospital.

I also know some people that went straight from getting their RN to getting a Ph.D in Nurse Practitioner...I still have yet to know how they're faring but hopefully they're doing okay, even without any clinical experience at all. It seems strange but I guess several programs are okay with Nurse Practitioners being "green behind the ears" RNs. I won't make a judgement but now that I realize just how much I don't know from working in the ICU, I'm glad that I at least gave the hospital a try.

Do want you want but whatever you do, just get experience somewhere. Try to follow your heart but know that in the end, a paycheck is what will get you there and if you are massively in debt, you'll have to take a job where you can find it, as I did. Either way, best of luck to you and know that you'll succeed wherever you end up! :)

geekchic · Aug 23, 2011

I'm going into nursing knowing that I want to work in a *cue the gasps* nursing home.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Aug 23, 2011

I know one nurse licensed in the mid-70s who has never worked in a hospital.

I can definitely see that a career path in public health, home health, LTCs, school nursing, or other non-acute settings could be rewarding. (Just not for me...)