Are you really not a "real nurse" unless you work in acute care?

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I am an RN in a peds clinic, and it seems nurses who work in outpatient settings are not looked at as "real nurses" by their acute care RN counterparts. Is there a future in outpatient nursing?

Also, what are some ways I can "stay current" with my nursing skills as much as possible while working outpatient? I may want to work outpatient my whole career. However, I do want to stay up to date/marketable just in case I one day decide to move into the acute care arena.

Critical care nurses will always "look down" on nurses from other areas. It's just in their nature. How you view yourself as a nurse is what really matters!

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Critical care nurses will always "look down" on nurses from other areas. It's just in their nature.

No, it is certainly not in my nature but thanks for assuming. I respect all fellow nurses.

That's like saying, all floor nurses are jealous of ICU/ER nurses and wish they could work critical care. It's just in their nature.

Not true.

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Thats kind of a broad generalisation, isn't it ? I have worked for four years on a surgical/telemetry floor (at the beginning of my career, sole night nurse for 11 patients ! I'm still not sure how nothing really bad didn't happen..). I now work in a cardiac ICU. I don't look down on my former colleagues.. I recognise that I have a deeper understanding of some pathologies and processes now, due to having more time to take care of my patients properly, as I have a much smaller patient load. However, I am also well aware that my time on a non critical care floor has taught me things that some of my colleagues have never done / had to figure out the hard way. I am really really good at time management and priorisation ! Also, I can assess iffy situations in little time and know when to call the doctor - I'm not a worrywart and I'm rarely wrong. These are skills which I got on the floor and were transferrable to my new workplace.

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Specializes in Med-surg Telemetry, Leadership, Education.

I'm an acute care RN in my hospital's float pool. I go to inpatient psych, inpatient rehab, ED, critical care (stepdown) and med-surg-tele floors. Seems like it's nursing work wherever I go!

Beyond that, my fellow ADN grads work in acute care, home health, dialysis and one is even a Mercy Ships volunteer. All this, too, is nursing work. And I used to work as a CNA in a SNF/LTC facility...pretty sure what those nurses did was some of the most badass nursing work I've seen performed - and I've seen some stuff in my almost 5 years in healthcare. It's all real nursing!

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Critical care nurses will always "look down" on nurses from other areas. It's just in their nature. How you view yourself as a nurse is what really matters!

You revived a dead thread for that?

It doesn't have anything to with critical care. Some people get their validation by elevating themselves. Snooty people exist in all healthcare strata.

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My office manager actually said that the 7 nurses who work in our office aren't "real nurses". It chaps my rear to hear that. Just because we don't do lots of the floor nursing things does not negate the clinic nursing we do. Stand tall, girl! You are just as much a nurse as any of our conterparts in the hospitals!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
My office manager actually said that the 7 nurses who work in our office aren't "real nurses". It chaps my rear to hear that. Just because we don't do lots of the floor nursing things does not negate the clinic nursing we do. Stand tall, girl! You are just as much a nurse as any of our conterparts in the hospitals!
Although I don't deliver direct patient care these days, I am a real nurse...in fact, the Texas Board of Nursing deems me a real nurse, and the license they issued says so.
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Medical Assistants are being utilized so much in doctor's offices, clinics, and hospital specialty areas now. I'm not sure that RNs do have a secure future in those settings. Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants also have taken so many positions that were held by physicians in the past with only one physician covering many of them now. Economics and cost control might dictate the future of office nursing.

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Specializes in Care Coordination, Care Management.

Well, as far as doctor's offices go, that would depend. I am an RN and I work in a family practice as a care coordinator, to manage chronic conditions and continuity of care. If more practices continue to move in that direction, it is a good opportunity for nurses looking for an alternative to bedside.

Medical Assistants are being utilized so much in doctor's offices, clinics, and hospital specialty areas now. I'm not sure that RNs do have a secure future in those settings. Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants also have taken so many positions that were held by physicians in the past with only one physician covering many of them now. Economics and cost control might dictate the future of office nursing.
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I doubt they're actually saying that.

Other than my initial acute care experience my career has been in the out patient setting, specifically home health. Our clients and providers most definitely see me as a real nurse.

Experience and what you do with it make a difference but I've had enough acute care nurses and med students blown away by what I do and accomplish in home health. Common feedback is observing how much nursing we actually do. Paperwork often scares them away but it's the actual nursing care using clinical skills that is the draw.

I've actually heard it said by many bedside RNs. Seriously. That those on the outside are not "real nurses".

It's b.s to hell with them as far as I'm concerned.

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On the Allnurses,com website there is a category called specialties.

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I did enjoy my community care placement when in uni but I think everyone should have some acute experience first. If you never experienced deterioration in patients or complex needs first hand (, and not just learned about it in lectures, )then you can't really respond appropriately if anything happens out if the hospital in another setting . As for rehab jobs I just find it so boring I could never do it. , personally only acute and level 1 or 2 for me. Im not in the job to flick through papers or talk about the weather

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