other than bedside nusing?

willdgate · Sep 25, 2006

I get ya.....have you tried emergency room nursing, it's not as "bedsidish" ?

kelisehunter · Sep 25, 2006

Well i havent started school yet, just on the waiting list, and debating whether or not I really want to get into it all. I don't want to work bedside at all, besides whats necessary for school. Is there anything I can do straight out of school with just a ADN thats not bedside?

RN1263 · Sep 25, 2006

i'm 3rd semester of an adn program & it sounds like you would hate nursing school, because clinicals are all bedside and you do the job of a cna w/ your pt.s also.....

and to my knowledge all the non-bedside jobs for r.n.'s require bedside experience...

if you haven't started yet, then my advice is to do something else. it's very hard to stay motivated through nursing school to begin w/ and if you hate every minute of it you WILL be miserable..... my husband says i'm a pessimist, but i say i'm a "realist".....

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 25, 2006

Dijmat makes some good points. Why are you thinking of going to nursing school in the first place? What is it that appeals to you? What kind of career do you envision for yourself as a nurse?

I'd be real interested to know why you chose (or are considering) to go to nursing school if you have absolutely no interest in taking care of patients. Granted, some of us have jobs away from the bedside, but almost all of those jobs require direct patient care experience and many require advanced education.

You should seriously rethink your decision to go to nursing school. If you want to be a nurse, then be a nurse. If you don't want to be a nurse, take another educational program. But don't go to nursing school figuring that you can always avoid actually taking care of patients. It's part of the package that comes with being a nurse -- even if only for a few years.

llg

topkat, ADN, RN · Sep 25, 2006

I agree with the other posters.....I look at nursing as a "calling"...when I first went to nsg school in 79 it was all I ever wanted to do from that point on....26 1/2 years later, I'm still in love with my profession.....nsg isn't for everyone....there are other areas to pursue in the medical field that don't require actual hands-on care per se....such as a medical secretary, radiology, performing ultrasounds....these generally pay pretty good too....good luck with whatever you decide to do....topkat:nurse:

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Sep 25, 2006

I personally don't accept that one must have a "calling" to become a nurse (and there's a whole lotta threads on that topic if you feel like going there). That said, a student would find it rather difficult to get THROUGH nursing school without the ability to not only work at the bedside, but do it WELL.

An instructor who sees a student withdrawing from physical care is not going to let that student finish, period. You don't have to become an angel of mercy or a martyr, don't have to declare you love inserting foleys above all else in the world, but you DO have to make your patients feel that you enjoy taking care of them. And that's mighty hard to do when you don't want to be there.

Like llg said, please reconsider your options. It'd be a shame to get into school, through pre-reqs, spend gobs of money and time only to be dismissed as a poor nursing candidate.

Best of luck to you in what it is you REALLY want to do :)

augigi, CNS · Sep 25, 2006

I hate writing a post and then accidentally wiping it. Sigh.

I don't believe you need a "calling" to do nursing - we're not nuns!

Just look at where you want to go, and what you need to do to get there. Why would a Dr hire you for his office, at RN wages, with no clinical skills? They may as well hire a tech or receptionist in that case, for less pay.

You need to get clinical skills to be marketable, unless you're going to work in business (or even sometimes then), or in research. Just remember you can get these in any number of areas, all of which may not be the mad med-surg floor you hear about.

Epona · Sep 25, 2006

This got me thinking here. I too know that working in a hospital at bedside is NOT for me. I already know this. Ok folks. My end goal is to work in research, as an educator, or as an NP. Bedside is not really my thing, but I know I have to do it to get through school. I will be doing a BSN program. I have heard they have less clinical hours than the certificate, diploma programs. I am going the BSN route because I already have a BS and with what I want to eventually do, the BSN will lay some of the groundwork. Ok. So can one get through schooling and clincials in a hospital?? Can they do it? The blood and guts and smells do not bother me. I watch Trauma in the ER and Critical Hour and LOVE it. What I think of, is getting the HIV, Hep., Strep Throat, etc. from the sick folks. That is what I think about. That is what bothers me some. Any advice on how to do schooling and weather this?? Thanks!

augigi, CNS · Sep 25, 2006

Get vaccinated for Hepatitis A & B. Check the stats on workplace transmission - they are exceeding low. I just wonder what the issue is - do you not want to work in hospitals, or not want to do direct patient care? You'd be hard pressed to find an NP who doesn't have to work directly and closely with patients. I would find it hard to have a nurse educator (if you mean education of nurses) who doesn't have the experience to "walk the walk". We DO need nurse researchers though!

Good luck with your choice.

romie · Sep 25, 2006

Check out all of the social service organizations in your community. Many of them will have some time of nurse positon. A community based organization that provides services to people with developmental disabilities would most definitely be looking for some kind of nurse to help them manage all of their medications-- you wouldn't even be administering them, just occassionally checking off MARs and doing NARC counts. A residential treatment center for children would probably have a need for a nurse to manage medications, vacinations and medical appointments. Alot of social service type organizations can't pay alot of money, so the competition for these jobs would be low and easy for a new grad to land, but it would give you an amazing leadership experience.

Your other option would be to look at non-patient care type jobs in LTC. I know some SNF (not all) would hire anyone with a pulse and license to do MDS (sit at a computer all day). Perhaps you could be a special care unit manager--usually a nurse manager type position with minimal patient care. Depending on your location the SNF may not even require "bedside" experience at all.

Or you could try getting some kind of job with an insurance company. Sometimes it is all computer and phone work.

Epona · Sep 26, 2006

Those were some great responses. No- patient care and contact does not bother me as long as I have some control over the patient and contact with infectious fluids. The bottom line is trying to avoid contact with infectious diseases. That is what tends to bother me. I am fine with patient contact as long as it is in a somewhat controlled environment and the patient is rational (not throwing themselves around... yelling etc... not talking dementia here when I mean rational). Having someone jumping around and irrational like in an ER for example who let's say is HIV positive and the person is biting or whatever or the person is bleeding all over or whatever.... no.. not my speed. I love watching Trauma in the ER... love it, and typically the blood and guts do not bother me a bit, but if the person is infectious.. then yeah.. it bothers me. If someone has HIV (let's just say) and they come to the docs. office and I can properly access them in a somewhat calm environment.. then no.. it does not bother me. I hope I can help them, educate them, and give them some sense of reasurance in this very difficult time. I guess it's the situation, setting that bothers me. Not the patient. Hospitals not my deal... offices, labs, fine.