Autonomous Jobs out there?

[2BS Nurse]

I am looking for suggestions for a more autonomous RN position. I absolutely love my patients but find that my whiny co-workers are draining the life out of me. I have no choice but to sit next to them in the nurses' station and listen to them constantly complain. I'm searching for a job where I can work alone with patients, but I wouldn't feel safe in someone's home.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

You're probably more likely to be assaulted in the hospital than in home care. I've done both- assaulted multiple times in hospital, NEVER in a home.

I agree. In general, people recognize that you're there to help them in home health. You're the reason they don't have to treck all the way into an outpatient appointment to get their infusion or their dressing change or whatever you're seeing them for. I saw patients that lived in the middle of the ghetto when I was a home care nurse and never worried about being assaulted. I mean, I literally parked in front of a home where a murder had happened a few days earlier one time to see my patient who lived across the street. I later had to file a report of neglect against the mother of that patient, the state took custody of her and I continued to see her for another year while she lived 2 stories up from her mother in her aunt's home.

OP, if you really don't want to go into people's homes, you could consider being a liaison for a home care company. My last job, I was a liaison for an infusion pharmacy. I was placed full-time at a hospital and got referrals, did teaching prior to discharge and coordinated services after discharge. I was the only person from my company on site at my hospital and it was a very autonomous position; however working for a for-profit company had some serious drawbacks so I got out recently. Many home hospices and VNAs also have liaisons in hospitals.