Nurse consultant/Inspector for state?

elkpark · Dec 16, 2009

I worked as a surveyor for my state and the Feds for several years. We generally spent 2-3 days a week (nearly every week) "on the road," with Mondays and Fridays as office days. If we were doing a survey of a really big medical center, we might be "out" four days in a week. That would not necessarily impede your studying -- if you have a laptop, most hotels have internet access, so you can do much of the same work in the evening that you would at home.

It's definitely a v. different lifestyle, and not for everyone. There is a fair amount of turnover at my state's agency just because people and their families didn't care for the constant traveling and absence from home for days at a time.

kynurse08 · Dec 16, 2009

Thank you for your reply. I applied for a position for a county 1 hr away from home. Is that the county I would have office days in? I am not married nor do I have kids but would enjoy a different change of pace and to get my foot in the door to a maybe better opportunity.

elkpark · Dec 16, 2009

Unless your position specifically includes working from home, yes, that would be your office. All the reports that are the results of the investigations/surveys are written using special state and federal programs and entered into state and federal databases (that's what you do on your days in the office) that can only be accessed from authorized computers by authorized users. If you get permission to work from home, the state agency computer people will have to come to your home and modify your home computer (or they might provide you with a separate computer) to give you access to the programs and databases at home.

The job involves a lot of writing, and your reports are public record and can be challenged in administrative court if a facility disagrees strongly with your findings (and you can be called to testify in court to defend your findings).

I really enjoyed my time as a hospital surveyor (until my team fell apart and the job became unbearable), and there are lots of benefits to being a state employee.