Hospital to Urgent Care

Specialties Ambulatory

Published

Specializes in Labor and Delivery; Neurosciences.

After six years of nursing experience in Neuro, L&D and Maternal Child, I have accepted a position at an Urgent Care center.  Has anyone else made the transition from hospital to Urgent Care, and are you happy with your decision?  I feel like five 7-hour shifts per week and not having to do the overnights will improve my sleep and work-life balance as well as my mental/emotional and physical health..  But with any change, I’m a little nervous.. Just wanted to hear experiences from others!

Thank you in advance! (And I apologize if something similar has been posted before, I searched the best I could!)

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Hi! Just curious about your urgent care experience. I'm in a similar situation right now. 

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Specializes in School Nurse, PICU, Pediatric Urgent Care.

Hi, 

It's been a while, hope all is well if you are working.

I worked in the PICU for about 5 years, then did some Home Care and I've been in Peds Urgent Care about 3 years. I'll tell you one thing, the acuity level is not even close. Yes, you'll get anaphalaxsis, asthma attacks, bad lacerations, etc., but guess what? You do what you can do and then send them to the hospital. Mostly you triage, give basic meds, assist the Dr., (You DO still assess and educate and discharge). In some places they do bloods and IVs. Most places do Covid Testing, Strep Tests, Urine Testing, etc. Some, depending on the company will do Flu shots, school physicals (mine doesn't). If you have an MA, they can do EKG's. It's a world of difference. My office is open 12-12 every day, I work 4 10 hour days.

Usually the pay isn't close to the hospital as well. 

 

 

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On 8/10/2021 at 7:22 PM, Mickey9700 said:

Hi, 

It's been a while, hope all is well if you are working.

I worked in the PICU for about 5 years, then did some Home Care and I've been in Peds Urgent Care about 3 years. I'll tell you one thing, the acuity level is not even close. Yes, you'll get anaphalaxsis, asthma attacks, bad lacerations, etc., but guess what? You do what you can do and then send them to the hospital. Mostly you triage, give basic meds, assist the Dr., (You DO still assess and educate and discharge). In some places they do bloods and IVs. Most places do Covid Testing, Strep Tests, Urine Testing, etc. Some, depending on the company will do Flu shots, school physicals (mine doesn't). If you have an MA, they can do EKG's. It's a world of difference. My office is open 12-12 every day, I work 4 10 hour days.

Usually the pay isn't close to the hospital as well. 

 

 

Trying to financially prepare for a pay cut.

Curious how different the pay is between urgent care and outpatient clinic. I've requested a higher pay from current hospital base pay when applying to urgent care. No offer yet, and the benefits are super expensive from what I currently pay.

My current org has been up front that any transfer to outpatient clinic would be a pay cut. On paper it seems like I'd still come out ahead after benefits/taxes are taken out.

My family thinks I'm crazy for considering a pay cut. They think I should go with urgent care even if it's same wage despite the increase cost in benefits.  I think the reduce pay and same cost in benefits is the better option.

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Specializes in Pediatrics (urgent care).

I'm still a new RN (1 year) and started in adult ER as a new grad (which was a complete nightmare, but that is another story!) In April of this year, I moved to a pediatric urgent care and it's the happiest I've ever been (not just as a nurse, but at any job, EVER). True, the acuity is obviously much lower (as a previous commenter said, we do get our share of respiratory distress, serious injuries, etc. that need to be emergently treated and stablized for transfer) but I get such a sense of satisfaction from being able to actually help "fix" problems on a daily basis, even if it's something as simple as a sore throat, a lac, or splinting a fractured arm. Plus, you see lots of families over and over, so you get to build relationships, which I really like. 

As for pay, for me as a new nurse, I actually make quite a bit more than I did as a hospital RN resident, and actually still more than I would have as a new staff nurse at my previous hospital. I realize that might be a different story for the experienced staff nurse who would obviously make much more than I did! Though there are tough days, on the whole, I leave my job feeling satisfied on most days and would still be happy in my role even if I was earning less. I wish you luck in whatever you choose!

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Specializes in School Nurse, PICU, Pediatric Urgent Care.

Hi, 

It all depends on your state and your experience I suppose. You can't compare NYC pay to anywhere else in the country I would assume (except maybe big cities in California I hear). In NYC, I believe the difference between Hospital and Urgent Care nursing is probably $15/hr difference. So, like $45/hr and $60/hr. My best guess? I answered this question about a year ago and I still love Urgent Care, but getting tired of Covid Testing and now we are worrying about Monkey Pox (like what?!), ugh. I am considering school nursing which unfortunately is another pay cut, but we will see. I'm getting older and the years are going quickly, so I want to make as much of a difference in the lives of little people as I can. 

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