I have been working at a community health center for about 2 months now. We are more a group of centers than one location. We are not public health, are not owned by the government, but we are run primarily by grants and donations (as well as medicaid, insurance and copays). We have three centers that caters to your more "standard" patients (regular insurance, medicaid, underinsured) and then we have an immigrant clinic, a clinic on the bottom floor of a transient living community (i.e. apt rented to formerly homeless) and caters primarily to homeless and formerly homeless people, and a twice weekly clinic that is run out of the corner of a homeless shelter and handles homeless people exclusively. We are HUGE on education and preventative care, have MANY programs available to help the poor/homeless/immigrants get the care they need, often at the expense of our center and at times, at the expense of us personally. We have taken up a collection to obtain pain meds for a man who broke his leg and couldn't afford to buy his meds (he was going to take tylenol for a leg shattered in 6 places b/c he couldn't afford the meds). Last week I donated a backpack to a homeless man who's meds kept getting stolen so he could keep them on him at all times, and the week before I took a stack of coats donated by our Director of Nursing and we hung them in the lobby at one of our centers that caters to the homeless and they were gone (more than 20) in less than an hour. We give antibiotic injections to people who don't know where their next meal is coming from and who worry about if the shelter will have a "freeze night" so they can get in out of the weather.
This is what I do, day in and day out. I love my job, and I cannot even remotely fathom ever going anywhere else. When office politics gets me down, or the standard work blues hit, I remember these people and what I am doing for them, and it almost makes me cry because I am so happy to be able to do the little bit that I do for them.
On top of all of that, I work 8:30-5:30 Monday-Friday and am never ever going to be called in to work nights or weekends.
I feel truly truly blessed.
Jennifer (who was seriously questioning why she went to nursing school, and is so thankful that she didn't listen to that voice on those 'dark rainy days')
Where I moved after college (my husband is in the Air Force) the hospital system in our small town used RNs to do the community health classes and outreach. There really was not a whole lot of opportunity there - where I live now, which is where I got my degree, there are 3 health systems, several non-profits like American Lung Association, a larger Red Cross, bigger health department, etc...
I did not know you could apply to be a nutritionist at WIC without having a degree in nutrition or I would have tried that. That is probably a good start for someone with a health ed degree
I tried to get any and all jobs related in the slightest to social services/community and public health/health sciences in general and the closest I got was I worked as a lifeguard for a couple of months, and worked filing records in a medical office as a temp for another couple of months. I had a nursing home offer me a spot in its on the job training course as a CNA, $6.25/hr to start.
I thought about going back for a MSW and being a medical social worker but the cost/etc... was a bit prohibitive and I would not have been able to finish it anyway since we moved less than 2 yrs after we got there.
I'd say you need a few things for a comm health degree to work: being in the right part of the country - I hear the west coast uses people with the certified health educator credential and health ed degree more than other regions who prefer RNs, doing co-op or internships in college and staying in that area to make use of of your networking contacts, and consider getting a Master's to help set yourself apart from other applicants.
Good luck! I would say the degree is more focused on community health than you would get in a BSN program but the RN credential would have helped me considerably - I think it is more valuable than the comm health degree if you were to choose one or the other, but definitely a good combination if you have both.
Specializes in Med/Tele, Home Health, Case Management.
I wish there were places like these where I live (TX)! We have 2 large county hospitals which run community clinics near me but it is difficult to get hired. I am currently working in home health and feel like I help people every day :). I would like to work in a clinic, however.
Specializes in maternal child, public/community health.
"I think I would like the school-age population the best, but really, the whole field of public health is interesting. At this point I really have zero interest in hospital nursing and have been doubting whether that would make me a "real" nurse or "worthy" of taking a spot in a BSN program. "
I went to nursing school knowing that I did not want to ever work in a hospital. I even did my preceptorship with a public/community health agency. There are many types of nursing - hospital nursing is just one. I am a "real nurse" every day even though I have never been a hospital nurse. I use my nursing education daily in my job - not the same way as a hospital nurse but they do not use their education the same way I do. If everyone wanted to be a hospital nurse, all the other nursing jobs would be vacant. My mom was a nurse for over 50 years and she had many different types of jobs - hospital, community, industrial, school nurse, ...... The nursing profession needs people who are interested in the different aspects of nursing.
mmt4
127 Posts
Where I moved after college (my husband is in the Air Force) the hospital system in our small town used RNs to do the community health classes and outreach. There really was not a whole lot of opportunity there - where I live now, which is where I got my degree, there are 3 health systems, several non-profits like American Lung Association, a larger Red Cross, bigger health department, etc...
I did not know you could apply to be a nutritionist at WIC without having a degree in nutrition or I would have tried that. That is probably a good start for someone with a health ed degree
I tried to get any and all jobs related in the slightest to social services/community and public health/health sciences in general and the closest I got was I worked as a lifeguard for a couple of months, and worked filing records in a medical office as a temp for another couple of months. I had a nursing home offer me a spot in its on the job training course as a CNA, $6.25/hr to start.
I thought about going back for a MSW and being a medical social worker but the cost/etc... was a bit prohibitive and I would not have been able to finish it anyway since we moved less than 2 yrs after we got there.
I'd say you need a few things for a comm health degree to work: being in the right part of the country - I hear the west coast uses people with the certified health educator credential and health ed degree more than other regions who prefer RNs, doing co-op or internships in college and staying in that area to make use of of your networking contacts, and consider getting a Master's to help set yourself apart from other applicants.
Good luck! I would say the degree is more focused on community health than you would get in a BSN program but the RN credential would have helped me considerably - I think it is more valuable than the comm health degree if you were to choose one or the other, but definitely a good combination if you have both.