Least stressful nursing specialty

Published

What does everyone think is the least stressful nursing specialty?

Specializes in NICU, PICU, educator.
The affluent new grad princesses hint that NICU is the goldmine.

They don't work in my unit lol Of course all we do is sit and rock babies all night. Huh!

Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.
I agree with PPs, although I do recall thinking that if someone had a strong background in IVs and perhaps oncology (certified for chemo administration) that our hospitals outpt infusion unit wouldn't be terrible. These nurses got hospital pay and spent their shift (days, no weekends or holidays, I believe) inserting IVs or accessing ports and central lines to infuse various products.

I'm guessing the experience I mentioned would be helpful or even necessary and getting that would *not* be stress free.

No, no, no. Giving chemotherapy can be very stressful, mistakes on calculations and dosage are completely unacceptable. IV infiltration, leakage, or spills are nightmares. Controlling side effects are stressful. And many of the drugs are so toxic that the patient could head south at any moment and you better know what to assess for. Plus, in many places the goal is to get as many in and out as fast as possible for the money, money, money.

What does everyone think is the least stressful nursing specialty?

Out of all places I ever interviewed I thought that psychiatric nursing in certain areas is low stress. But of course I have no real clue as I never took a position in psych - the pay is too low...

Perhaps office nursing? but also probably low pay...

My least stressful experiences have always been after staying in a stressful position long enough to gain proficiency ethat layers of stress melt away just because I don't have to think as hard, I'm more efficient and/or I don't have to repair as many mis steps.

Out of all places I ever interviewed I thought that psychiatric nursing in certain areas is low stress. But of course I have no real clue as I never took a position in psych - the pay is too low...

Perhaps office nursing? but also probably low pay...

I guess that depends on what you consider "low pay". In psych I make over $30 with shift diff. More than I made in my former career ;)

Specializes in ICU.

For me personally, I'd say anything where you don't have to deal with demanding patients and family members. Informatics/educator jobs would be lower stress for me.

Specializes in ICU.
Out of all places I ever interviewed I thought that psychiatric nursing in certain areas is low stress. But of course I have no real clue as I never took a position in psych - the pay is too low...

Perhaps office nursing? but also probably low pay...

That's interesting - every hospital I've worked in has paid psych nurses the same as any other inpatient specialty. Are there areas of the country where they actually pay them differently?

It all depends on how one handles stress. For example, some people find the ER extremely stressful because of the unknown. Others thrive on the unknown.

To me, if it's nursing, then it's stressful.

For me it was radiation oncology, but there were a few times when it was stressful. For the most part I loved it. Teaching was fun as well. I had my moments, but it was super fun. Also being a hha supervisor was easy for me and rarely had any stress. The gig at the urology clinic was nice as well. There was only 1 time I felt stressed, but other than that it wasn't bad at all. Also, radiology was routine as well. It was not stressful.

One that doesn't require any patient care....like research, lab work, medical writing. I am seriously considering some of those!!

Specializes in Neuroscience.
I wanna be a work from home nurse when I grow up. Probably hugely stressful in its own right, but I prefer to be stressed in my jammies.

Scrubs are the epitome of working in your jammies.

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
+ Join the Discussion