Are clinic and school nursing jobs "too easy"

Farawyn · Jan 7, 2016

I am a school nurse, and I would not have started my career out here, although it's one of the hardest, most emotional jobs I've ever done.

I came to it with over 20 years hospital/clinic experience.

Check out the School Nurse Forum. There are some nurses there who started right out of the gate who may give you a different perspective.

We have some down time to hang out. Until we don't.

Good luck!

Dranger · Jan 7, 2016

I wouldn't say they are easy but they are pretty niche fields. Niche can be good but can also box you into one area.

Personally I think it's always better to start out acute care then specialize from there. Acute care is that traditional nursing you are probably looking for in a job.

Keep looking for nursing residency slots at hospitals. One will pop up eventually.

Libby1987 · Jan 7, 2016

There are no easy cushy jobs in nursing, not even comparatively so.

Well, maybe Rocknurse has an easy cushy job (per her own description), but informatics seems more IT than your garden variety nursing.

A&Ox6, MSN, RN · Jan 7, 2016

My first nursing job was as a school nurse. While in that position, I was actually recruited for a hospital psych job without even applying. I really wanted to work psych.

As all the school nurses can tell you, we see a little of everything. Also, these jobs will give you more experience than if you just wait for something else.

AJJKRN · Jan 7, 2016

I think the question you asked was quite loaded and I would have to say that it depends on the person and what their stressors are...

NanaPoo · Jan 7, 2016

Like Farawyn said, there's downtime until there isn't!

I would have never wanted this "cush" school nurse job until I had some serious acute care job under my belt. I came to school nursing after 15 years of nursing experience. 3 years in med-surg and 12 in hospice (inpatient and outpatient).

School nursing is not all band-aids and ice packs but somedays it feels that way. But when that kid comes in with status asthmaticus and I am the ONLY medical person in the building, I am very thankful for the years of assessment skills and nursing judgment that I can rely on. And that 2nd grader with a new complaint of chest pain? Abdominal pain that might be cramps - or is it a hot appendix? Fall in the bathroom - concussion? You'd be surprised how the things I learned in my early years of nursing guide my daily decisions here at school with my K-8th graders AND with staff and faculty.

I still continue to learn but not at the rate that I did on med-surg. I keep up with medical and nursing journals and make myself stay up to date with the latest things in healthcare, particularly when it comes to pediatrics. I do consider this an "easier" job than what I've done in the past in regards to hours and schedule and the general pace that I run during the day but I still have to be on point to handle emergencies during the 8 hours that I'm here.

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 7, 2016

You could not pay me enough to be a school nurse. I think niches/specialties are very individual. "One man's trash is another man's treasure"

NanaPoo · Jan 7, 2016

You could not pay me enough to be a school nurse. I think niches/specialties are very individual. "One man's trash is another man's treasure"

Hey! Are you calling my job trash??

And, trust me, they definitely wouldn't pay you enough. I love it but I'm definitely not in it for the $$

We bought lottery tickets yesterday just because the payout got so ridiculous and I seriously said I probably wouldn't stop working. I really, seriously don't do it because I need or want a paycheck. In the long run I probably break even or lose a few $$ after I buy cough drops or popsicles or a few bottles of Advil for the clinic when I'm making a grocery run for the family.

momathoner09, BSN, MSN, APRN · Jan 7, 2016

I am not a school nurse but I work in pre-op which could be considered a niche and/or a cushy job. Now I am a new nurse (only 3 months experience before this job) but I do plan on staying in pre-op, outpatient surgery, possibly moving to OR. This isn't where I had planned on being and I literally fell into this job vs. someone with years of experience but I love it. I can't imagine going back to floor nursing now nor would I be any good at it I think.

It really is just all different job responsibilities. Floor nursing you deal a lot with direct patient care. I would say 50% of my job is patient care but the rest is tons of admin work (we make charts), phone calls, dealing with the surgeons, PAs, NPs, anesthesia, etc. We might spend only one hour caring for that patient day of surgery. But there were hours of work just to get that patient to be ready for surgery. That is the bulk of my job. Some might call this "easy," and I get that but we just have different stressors. I'm sure some would say that I didn't have enough experience for this job and I certainly didn't earn it but it's where I landed so I think I will stay put.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Jan 7, 2016

I'm not 100% sure you are an ADN, but will assume so at this point. You aren't currently working in an acute care setting so I'm not sure there is a huge difference in the attractivness of a job history of LTC vs outpt. You do what makes you happy. Apply to acute care jobs if that is what you are looking for.

MrNurse(x2), ADN · Jan 7, 2016

I am a school nurse, brand new, since March, lots to learn. That being said I have 27 years critical care experience. My assessment skills I learned in the first career are definitely used here. That feeling that something isn't right comes faster in med/surg settings. I really do believe that med/surg requirement may be a "necessary evil" for those not interested in hospital nursing. It is a crucible of situations that almost every nurse will face no matter what their specialty. Please do yourself a favor, suffer through the hospital, approach it with the attitude of it making you the best nurse you can be, that way your attitude doesn't get in the way, and you will be thankful down the road. Good luck!