Does working at a small hospital make me less of a nurse?

[Jaellys]

I was told that working in a small, 30 bed hospital as a med surg nurse makes me less of a nurse than one who works in a large hospital. Is this true?

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Nope, not true. In fact, as others have stated, you might just become a more well-rounded nurse due to not having an IV Team, having to draw your own labs, having all kinds of patients and not just one department.

I know I learned to care for med-surg style patients but we also have an ER, we have L&D, we have surgery. I ended up being an ER Nurse and a L&D nurse as well as working med-surg.

We had anesthesia on call. Our docs slept nearby in a small room but try to wake one up in the middle of the night when a woman walks in, in labor! Or an ambulance drives up with a car accident victim.

And running a code in a small hospital really teaches you something!

[chacha82, ADN, BSN]

Of course not. Do you still have to have your RN for the job?

[wolf9653]

The only thing that makes one less of a nurse is a weight loss. Which depending on the individual may actually be desirable.

Beyond that.

The position a nurse takes matters less than the person the nurse takes. If one is lacking in compassion, caring commitment and desire to do their job well, they are less of a nurse.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I was told that working in a small, 30 bed hospital as a med surg nurse makes me less of a nurse than one who works in a large hospital. Is this true?

I have never worked a single day at an acute care hospital in my entire 10-year career. This does not make me less of a nurse than someone who works in the university hospital trauma ICU or the large county hospital ER.

The critical care nurse has more procedural and clinical skills than someone like me, but I am a nurse in my own right.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

What, then, in their opinion, makes a real nurse??

In my opinion, nurses that work in smaller facilities have magic powers because they end up having to make do with so much less and I think that is amazing. I look at rural nursing job postings and marvel at what they must be able to do, whereas, nurses at bigger hospitals get many more resources and don't have to stretch their magic out quite as much.

That person was a rudey pants. Don't listen to them.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Rural Nursing is actually a recognized specialty in itself. Texas Tech Health Science Center has provided a specialty in Rural Health for a very long time now. In a previous role, I was lucky enough to serve as an outreach consultant for rural hospitals. During that time, I developed a very deep respect for clinicians in those settings - including those teensy critical access facilities that may function with only 1 RN on duty. Yeppers, s/he is the (ED-Charge-L&D-Scrub) Nurse, phlebotomist, EKG tech, ambulance dispatcher, pharmacy tech, pbx operator... frequently cross-trained to function as a rad tech & respiratory tech. Srsly. And they do it all with uncommon grace & commitment to their communities.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

I was told that working in a small, 30 bed hospital as a med surg nurse makes me less of a nurse than one who works in a large hospital. Is this true?

If my Float Pool pay would follow me, Heaven knows I'd be right there with you!!

[DeeAngel]

I was told that working in a small, 30 bed hospital as a med surg nurse makes me less of a nurse than one who works in a large hospital. Is this true?

Tell whomever said that to pull their head from their behind because they not only sound stupid but ridiculous as well

[Sour Lemon]

I love working at small hospitals and will avoid going back to a large one if I can. My patients aren't much different, I just enjoy parking right outside of the entrance. It's nice to not have to worry about getting stabbed on the way to my car.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I love working at small hospitals and will avoid going back to a large one if I can. My patients aren't much different, I just enjoy parking right outside of the entrance. It's nice to not have to worry about getting stabbed on the way to my car.

I once worked at a small hospital where I could stand in the OB nurses' station and remote start my car on winter nights.

[caliotter3]

The only thing that makes you less of a nurse is the quality and quantity of work that you do and your behavior and attitudes toward others as you do your work.

[CelticGoddess, BSN, RN]

I was told that working in a small, 30 bed hospital as a med surg nurse makes me less of a nurse than one who works in a large hospital. Is this true?

I learned a lot when I worked at a 36 bed hospital. You can learn a lot. I work in a large hospital now and the only difference I have found is that I work on a specialty unit, but I do the same job I did when I was at the small hospital. Except at the small hospital I was a tele nurse.

So no, it does't make you less of a nurse.