New RN, but not interested in hospital bedside nursing

[scubanurse2000]

Hello,

This is my first post, but I have looked up advice at allnurses for years. I am a new RN, this is my second career, and I have previous college education in other areas. I used to work in corporate environment and got into nursing to combine my love of all things medical with the opportunity to help people help themselves. I know some people may think I am nuts, but I have no interest in hospital bedside nursing. I plan to work and gain experience for a couple of years then complete my MSN for either FNP or go into research. Nursing offers so much in terms of career options, I just do not know of options for a new RN outside of the Med/Surg hospital route. Even if I could land a job in a hospital in this economy, I feel that I would be taking a spot away from someone who has a passion for bedside hospital nursing. I have completed several rotations at sub-acute and LTC facilities, would they offer good experience before becoming a NP or to work in research? I would love to hear from some of you who did not go through the hospital to gain experience. My goal is to eventually work in preventative care.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

I did clinic and then went into research. never did acute care as a nurse. A little case management also in there. This has worked for me for the 21 years i have been a nurse.

[Libby1987]

We have hired new RN's to home health with meeting state requirements for supervision. From what I've read on this forum, our head to toe assessments are more comprehensive than what med surg nurses are allotted time for in acute care, our collaboration of care also seems more in line with a FNP role than what I've read about in acute care, where it seems the bedside nurse isn't as involved in referrals and education. And outside of most high risk drugs, we're doing a lot of the same treatments (but on more stable patients of course, in most cases anyway).

[scubanurse2000]

Thank you CrunchRN, I am looking into clinic work as well, if not through a job, then as a volunteer at one of our free clinics to gain experience and contacts.

[scubanurse2000]

Thank you Libby1987, I will check out home health opportunities as well. I have never made the connection between home health duties and how similar they are to a FNP, it makes sense now!

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

You may have to suck it up and do 1-2 years of acute care if you wanna be a FNP. Don't worry about taking someone's spot at the bedside. You have to do what is best for your career.

[MatrixRn]

Have you checked in on the FNP programs? Does the one you would like to attend require or suggest a certain amount of bedside nursing?

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

If you want to be competitive for a Masters program, 2 years in acute care or med surg is usually required.

A few of my friends and colleagues are in these programs now and except for one who went straight to mental health after graduation, they all have varied experiences on the floors.

[scubanurse2000]

Hi ShillaBSN,

I have checked and not all require acute care/hospital experience (I am in CA-SF Bay area). A few of my friends have gone the RN-NP straight from their ADN with little or no experience. I just need to be out of school to get over study burnout for a year or two and use my brain in a different way - taking care of patients and figuring out where I can do the most good in this profession. More importantly, I want to spend some quality time with my family before my children get too old to want to hang with me. :)

I believe that one of the reasons acute care is not required by all of the MSN programs is the economy is not allowing enough nurses to find jobs that would supply that acute care experience in the first place.

[enkwanta]

Hello,

I fully understand your situation because I did not remain at bedside nursing forever. However, I did 16 years in Oncology nursing and that was a killer. I was physically, mentally and emotionally drained from cancer nursing. They downsized and so I did not have to do anything so they let me go. Well, just like you, I love preventive care so I went on to do my Masters in Public Health but until today, I never land a job in that field, which was very, very disappointing for me. I then worked in managed care for another eight years and now I am working as a school nurse which is on the preventive side. I am very crazy about wellness and hope to operate a wellness center or something to do with wellness. I love nursing because of the broad scope that we have to choose from. If you love to explore, you should be able to find a niche unless it is not for you. I do believe that having some clinical experience helps when you go to preventive care. you actually need that experience to draw from. I find my past clinical experience to be very valuable in school nursing because you are like a independent practitioner and need to make a lot of decisions that you will have to live with after. If you have no past experience, you will not be able to make critical decisions.

[enkwanta]

Totally age with your smart suggestion. "Do what you have to do."

[Jules A, MSN]

I believe that one of the reasons acute care is not required by all of the MSN programs is the economy is not allowing enough nurses to find jobs that would supply that acute care experience in the first place.

Cynical me, I was thinking its because there are a plethora of greedy schools out there who could give a rip about the quality of clinicians they crank out.

Research vs NP, imo, are opposite ends of the spectrum. Definitely check each path out, the people you will be surrounding yourself with, work atmosphere etc. and decide which would be the best for you. FWIW I think it is thoughtful that you are cognizant of the space you might be taking from someone else who aspires to be a floor nurse especially if it doesn't mean anything to you.

Good luck!