Is Nursing for me if I don't want to be a bedside RN?

[sail81]

Hi all!

I have my CNA and was taking pre-reqs for Nursing b/c I really love learning about medicine. My dream job would be working in an administrative RN position...like legal Nursing or working on clinical trials.....how hard is it to get into positions like this w/o having much bedside Nursing experience?

Thanks for your help!

[Medic9]

I'm not an RN nor am I in nursing school. That said I will answer your question with a question. How well could you represent a case in an area which you have no experience?

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

How well could you represent a case in an area which you have no experience?

:yeahthat:

[IngyRN]

It may be difficult but possible if you have had management experience. My advise is to get hands on experience, reading and clinicals during school arent enough to make you well rounded. Your colleagues will respect you more for your knowledge base.

[Shenanigans, RN]

I just did a two week stint on a clinical place with a mental health nurse manager, and he said he'd had years of mental health experience, he pointed out that all the previous mangers (ten in 9 years) had no experience and hence the reason they didn't last long.

He also maintained his own case load to ensure he was still keeping up to date with his skill base.

On this ex. I also witnessed an auditing of the mental health system in the region - by people who were not mental health expereinced or nurses, they didnt' know what they were talking and about and had no respect from the staff.

Even though I'm just a lowly student, I agree with the others on piror experience before a managment role.

[HealthyRN]

It is nearly impossible to get into positions like management or even research without some bedside experience. For management positions, you would have to have significant bedside experience (3-5 years) and show initiative by taking charge nurse or serving in some type of leadership position on your unit. For research positions, you would probably need at least 2 years of bedside experience.

I've found out the hard way that you can't get far in nursing without hands-on experience. From what I'm going through at the moment, if you don't think you would enjoy bedside nursing, I would think twice about it.

[anc33]

I would say that it is nearly impossible to get into management without 5+ years of solid bedside experience. It would be much easier to get into research (phase I drug research especially) without much experience. In fact my employer and some other large research CROs look for new grads to hire. But early drug research is a much different animal from the kinds of research that goes on in hospitals. You would be better served to get 2+ years of bedside experience if you wanted to break in there.

[HealthyRN]

I would say that it is nearly impossible to get into management without 5+ years of solid bedside experience. It would be much easier to get into research (phase I drug research especially) without much experience. In fact my employer and some other large research CROs look for new grads to hire. But early drug research is a much different animal from the kinds of research that goes on in hospitals. You would be better served to get 2+ years of bedside experience if you wanted to break in there.

ANC33- Would you mind PMing me with the name of your employer (if it is a national company)? I tried to PM you, but wasn't able to for some reason.

[llg, PhD, RN]

It's possible, but difficult. Most of all, you will need the discipline and patience to "wait" for your dream job while you get the experience you will need to succeed in that dream job. Most people don't have that much discipline and patience.

Perhaps you should try a more direct route. For example, if you are really interested in health care administration/management .... maybe you should get your degree in that field and become a hospital administrator instead of a nursing manager.

If you are really interested in research ... maybe you should get a degree in biostatistics or epidemiology or one of the sciences and focus on that.

Public health is another field that would offer opportunities for health administration careers and/or health research.

If the idea of spending a few years doing actual patient care is a real turn-off for you, I think you should think twice about being a nurse. There are lots of other disciplines that prepare you for careers in healthcare besides nursing.

[caliotter3]

llg says it well. While not impossible, it is not easy to get into non-bedside nursing roles without the minimum of bedside experience. You should explore the avenues that llg suggests. You would probably find what you want in one of these areas. Otherwise, you will have to resign yourself to doing bedside nursing before you can move into a non-bedside nursing role. Good luck.

[zahryia, LPN]

I'm just curious. Will her years as a CNA count for anything towards a research or public health position?

[jjjoy, LPN]

Llg gives good advice. I wish the nursing school reps had offered me such sage advice - as opposed to highlighting all of the non-bedside nursing possibilities without emphasizing that most (not all) such positions require at least a few years of hands-on bedside experience and without noting other possibilities besides nursing that might fit certain health care interests.

Good luck with your school and career choices!