career blending RN & counselor??

[iHeartNICU]

I have been a RN for a year and have been in the same unit since graduation. I LOVE my job and am coming to find out that the part I love the most is educating the parents of my patients about everything going on. That being said, I am a transplant patient and really feel drawn to work with transplant patients in some sort of counseling/education type environment (I work NICU right now).

So my question is, is there an area of nursing that I would be able to talk to/educate transplant patients without working on an actual transplant floor in the hospital or in a physicians office? I really like the one on one time with patients and feel that I would be really good at something like that. Maybe an outpatient couseling type thing, but without actually going to school specifically for counseling. Thanks in advance for any information!

~Amy

[Jules A, MSN]

Hi Amy,

I would guess that most positions would require more education. I'm going for my Psych NP because I want to do more counseling as well as medication management. Good luck!

[jjjoy, LPN]

Perhaps try to get a job on a transplant floor just so that you can get more exposure to what other roles might be realistically available to you in the future.