A real nurse VS. a "fake" nurse

[okredrobot]

The last year has been pretty rough for me.

During the winter holidays, I was laid off by my work. Since then I started looking for a new job but it was a bit difficult as I was in the midst of completing my BSN; and every agency wanted to see your degree upfront. I moved back in with my parents, temporarily to save on rent.

Fast forward to last week. I was offered a job; but it's not a "real nursing job". It's a job with an insurance agency that involves some field work. This is not like home care; it's more of an "assess and coordinate" thing. At first I was excited because it pays well and I would finally get insurance coverage - however now I am having second thoughts.

My ideal goal is to be in a hospital, and emergency room - dealing with real patients, being hands on.

I'm afraid that taking on this position will make me look less favorable to hospitals. I am very thankful for the opportunity. I am just not sure if this in an appropriate path. I will finish my BSN this December. Previously, I worked 3.5 years in an outpatient clinic setting.

Please let me know if you have any advice; THANKS :)

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

How is a nurse who works as an insurance company NURSE (a position for a licensed nurse) not a "real nurse"?

I haven't worked in a hospital in 5 years and I'm still very much a real nurse.

[Julius Seizure]

I got really confused by your post conflicting with your user name including BSN...thought I was reading an old post or something but it seems to be current?

Anyway, if it IS current, I hope you decide to take the job.

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

You're not going to be any more desirable to an ED by being out of work and going to school. Having a nursing job - any job - demonstrates your ability to show up at work every day and on time and perform as a professional nurse. Out of hospital patient contact is still patient contact... even if it's even if it's secondary contact based on chart reviews (which is super fascinating to me).

And getting health insurance? Invaluable... and could save you from a lifelong debt which cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.

Take the job and then focus on developing the skills and knowledge to help you get into the ED (great choice, by the way.)

[aprilmoss]

Non-clinical nursing is still nursing.

[debiklages, MSN, RN]

"If you haven't got a BSN, you can't use "BSN" in your username.

Change your attitude and take the job. It may not be your dream job, but it will pay the rent and the health insurance".

I guess I'm not a real nurse either. I am a nurse educator , a "real nurse educator"

[nmnnurse]

I would take the job it sounds like it would be useful experience which would set you apart from others when you apply for the job you would really like.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Did the job require the person taking the position to be a nurse? Yes? Then guess what...it is a "real" nursing job.

Nurses do a lot more than run after gunshot wounds and stroke victims. Open your eyes to the incredible potential that has been handed to you and trust that life has a way of working out exactly how it is supposed to, even though you cannot see it right now. There is no arguing this job will do much more for your resume than unemployment ever will.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

Sounds like the ideal dream job for many of us burnt out hospital nurses. Hospital nursing is so overrated! Many of us leave for insurance or clinic jobs just to not be overworked. Most hospitals either short staff or mandate staff to 16 hours on a regular basis rather than hire enough nurses in the first place. The stress can be incredible, many nurses don't even got real lunch breaks and most places do 12 hour shifts.

If I were you I would thank your lucky stars such a wonderful and great paying position fell into your lap. Please take advantage of this great opportunity and stop thinking hospital nursing is all that. I would gladly trade my job and take this wonderful job if you're not interested. Seriously! I'm so sick of bedside nursing knowing I will be working short, higher patient ratios and forced to work 16 hours because they didn't even bother to staff with enough nurses in the first place! You are not missing anything good belive me! I'm just trying to make it to retirement with my body and mind intact from the hellish stress in nursing!

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

Although I do understand feeling "less than" when working outside of acute care. I work home health right now and there are, sadly, a lot of people who feel that this isn't a "real" nursing job. Well, we have to change that attitude!

I have seen this attitude when I worked outside of the hospital as well. I was meeting members of my husband's family and they would ask me what I do and I would tell them that I am a nurse. This was immediately followed by, "Oh really? Which hospital do you work at?" While I had worked for many years in a hospital I had recently had the opportunity to work in a different environment that required my nursing license to qualify for the position of auditing charts for insurance quality review. Believe me, trying to explain what I did for a living was hard enough explaining it to my husband, I definitely was not going to try to go into detail with every one of his family members.

Nursing is a very large field with endless opportunities. Being involved in direct patient care or not, we are always going to be "real" nurses. The only "fake" nurses out there are the ones that pose as a nurse and do not hold a license...or on October 31st, wearing a really tacky Halloween costume.

[SerenityKris]

I find that many new nurses have this skewed reception of what a 'real nurse' does. Nursing is unique in that you can take it in lots of directions. I guess I'm not what you would consider a 'real nurse' but let me tell you this.

I LOVE MY JOB.

I work Monday-Friday 8:30-5. FROM HOME! I have nights, weekends, and holidays off. I make more than a lot of my nursing school friends that work in hospitals, and I have the opportunity for almost unlimited overtime if I want it. When I turn my computer off at 5 o'clock I don't have to worry or think about work again until I clock back in.

This all means my family, including our two adopted toddlers get their best version of their mom - not a stressed out, overworked, holidays missing mom that works in a hospital.

You really need to reframe reality here and realize that your thinking is flawed, and quite frankly - offensive.

[CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN]

I am going to buck the trend here. As a "not real" nurse working in a non-çlinical job that takes all of my past experience and people skills to pull it off well my advice is to not take the job. With that mindset going you will surely fail. Find another job in a clinical setting even if it take awhile and set yourself up for success.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I have seen this attitude when I worked outside of the hospital as well. I was meeting members of my husband's family and they would ask me what I do and I would tell them that I am a nurse. This was immediately followed by, "Oh really? Which hospital do you work at?" While I had worked for many years in a hospital I had recently had the opportunity to work in a different environment that required my nursing license to qualify for the position of auditing charts for insurance quality review. Believe me, trying to explain what I did for a living was hard enough explaining it to my husband, I definitely was not going to try to go into detail with every one of his family members.

Nursing is a very large field with endless opportunities. Being involved in direct patient care or not, we are always going to be "real" nurses. The only "fake" nurses out there are the ones that pose as a nurse and do not hold a license...or on October 31st, wearing a really tacky Halloween costume.

This happens to me any time I meet someone new, too. Any time I say I am a nurse, the question that follows is always "What hospital do you work for?" I spend 40 hours a week at a hospital as a home infusion liaison in my current role but I am not employed by the hospital. I generally tell people that I work for a home infusion company but I'm at the hospital full-time. No one who isn't a nurse understands my role. Honestly I don't need them to either. The fewer questions non-nurses ask me about my job, the better.