Clinic nursing vs Hospital nursing

[Jenni811]

So currently i work in the hospital, 12 hour shifts differential pay. I work almost full time, full benefits etc. Its really great. i LOVE having days off, and sometimes i even get a week off.

Anyway,getting married spring of 2013 (Yes a while away but we are in no rush!!). At that time our hospital is going to be switching to the new building, which will still be connected to the clinic like it is now. Now we do want to start a family someday (Again NO rush!!!!) But there will be alot of things switching around in the hospital, so it would be a good out for me if i want to go to the clinic. They are already starting to plan units and who will be working where.

Just wondering from those who have worked in the hospital then moved to clinic. What was the change like for you? my main concern is i would be making ALOT less than i do now. However, i love the hours, i love the idea of being able to be at work at 8am since i have a 45 minute drive to work. I love the idea of being able to get off at 5 and make it home in time to have dinner with my fiance. Now, i don't get out of work till like 7:30 and get home around 8:15. when i work nights, i sleep during the day. I love the idea of no holidays or weekends. Is it worth it??? Just want to hear from others who have been in this same situation.

[Jenni811, RN]

I hear you on the mornings:)

But just a thought...as I'm from a "snowy and cold miserable in the winter" state too.

You will be driving more days a week in horrible weather if you work 5 days.....

and if WI is anything like were I'm from, plows are unpredictable in bad weather

(please don't think I'm trying to talk you out of this, cause I'm not. Change made me happy and it very well could be the best thing you ever did!)

very true.!! One time i snowmobiled to the main road and had my fiance's best friend give me a ride to work. Good times :)

Anyway, my plan this winter is since i am hired part time, i'll only keep my par time hours and THATS IT.

[Jenni811, RN]

The main factor in clinic nursing that may make you stay late is the personality of the doctor you work for -- speaking with the nurses who work there is a great way to check that out. Some docs will double or triple book, or will add on any patient that wants to be seen same-day and thus can run 1-2 hours behind. Others take 20 minutes for each 10 minute appt and thus run behind too.

Salary for clinic nurses tends to be highest when it is owned by a hospital (and not a doctor-owned practice). Pay here can be up to equal the hospital nurses. From the clinic nurses I've talked to, it seems those with more experience find more discrepancy in clinic vs hospital pay, and of course there's less opportunity for overtime or holiday pay in the clinic.

From my experiences, working conditions in the clinic are superior than working conditions in hospitals. You can count on a lunch 95% of the time, even 15 minute breaks sometimes, and there is almost never a time when you can't go to the bathroom. This job is also far less physical than in the hospital.

Good luck with what you decide

Thanks! :) It would be a clinic owned by a hospital, the one i work for now. I don't think we even have any physician owned offices. 2 large hospitals and clinics in town that would be difficult to compete with.

[FlyingScot, RN]

I went from a flight nurse position to an oncology clinic. I work 4 10 hour shifts per week. My salary doubled...yes doubled. I don't work weekends or holidays (none of them including MLK, Veterans Day etc). I close one night a week and sometimes I don't get home until 8 but that's rare. My stress level has nose-dived and now I'm able to participate in normal activities like a real human being (like exercise classes and sleeping at night). On the other hand I NEVER get lunch or a break, I run my butt off all day, the hospital nurses think I must be stupid because I work in a clinic and treat me as such, I have limited autonomy which is a huge change, I only get the chance to pee when I'm in danger of soiling myself, the phones ring incessantly and we do not have a secretary, the patient demands are just as constant as in a hospital either when they are actually there or when they call in, patients present to our clinic at death's door when they should have gone to the ER (because they didn't want to go) and we care for them until we can get an admit bed and this has included patients we had to put on pressors even though we don't have cardiac monitors (totally stupid and believe me I made some noise about this). It's absolutely nuts. I do ports/PICCs/PIVs on upwards of 50 patients a day...that's me...just me. That being said, would I go back to 12 hour shifts and weekends and holidays? Not on your life! It boils down to picking what you can live with. I chose the chaos and lack of respect by my peers so I can have a more normal schedule which translates for me into a more normal life. But, this was after over 2 decades of working as an acute care nurse with all the associated malarky and good things that goes with it. Your mileage may vary.

[PediNurse3]

I recently transfered to a specialty clinic in the medical office builidng attached to the hospital. Same organization, same facility, same benefits. But I don't have to work 12 + hour shifts, weekends, or holidays. For me the change was more about childcare but the change has been a good one. I acutally have enough energy after my shifts to live a somewhat normal life.

I work 8:30-5 Monday-Friday. We are closed two days for Thanksgiving, and this year, two days for Christmas and the New Year. Three or four days a month I have to stay until the last patient leaves- this week I left at 5:45. I think the latest I have clocked out prior to that has been 5:10.

I do miss having 4 days off a week and my old paycheck (although the reduction in base pay was not nearly as bad as much as I had thought that it would be), but it was a much needed change for me.

[bulletproofbarb]

I do two jobs, one nursing and one non nursing but in the medical field. In my second job, I have one day i do 9 to 5. It takes me 10 minutes to get to work. Sounds perfect doesn't it, but I actually hate that day the most! I am actually thinking of giving it up. I thought it would be great doing 9 to 5 being so close to home, but it's not for me. However, some people love it. You have to try it before you really know.

Maybe if I was doing 9 to 5 every day it would be different but the other days i work are all shifts, so early or late shift.