Lowest stress (still great pay) nursing specialties?

Hello all,

This is my first post here so bear with me. I am a current RN student and while my main focus right now is finishing the program I am nevertheless interested in finding out more about different specialties from nurses who have been there.

I have yet to decide on a nursing specialty for sure. To be honest money is a big motivator for me..but a post I read from forum member THE COMMUTER really struck me as exaclty how I feel. It stated id rather love my personal life and tolerate my job than tolerate my life and love my job. By this I mean im never going to enjoy work, I mostly enjoy traveling, exploring , cars..etc..(hence money motivated).

So begs the question...what nursing specialty out of the seemingly hundreds...would be very low stress on a daily basis and very good pay ( even if masters level as I have considered the NP route after RN school).

Any suggestions? ( I know im kinda asking for the best of both worlds here but im looking for things closest to what I seek). Thanks in advance everyone.

[Kristiernbsn]

Ruby Vee said:

When you are posting on a professional forum to people with experience in their field, you are posting to professionals. It is considered rude not to make an effort to communicate clearly and professionally. That means typing out "thank you" or "you", using proper grammar and punctuation, capitalizing appropriately, etc. Not only is it more respectful, but it is good practice. One day, you will need to communicate clearly, concisely and professionally both verbally and in writing. It makes sense to start now.

Thank you a million times for your comments! I'm always amazed by the poor grammar and spelling I see in some posts. I couldn't have said it better!

[CryssyD]

Hmmm.

How do I say this nicely? The only nurse I ever worked with who said she went into it for the money (after years of bartending, which can actually be quite lucrative in the right setting) was a fairly lousy nurse. Not to impugn your character, Aliens, but all the people telling you that nursing is more than a way to pay the bills aren't blowing smoke up your rear end.

You have to understand that nursing is stressful because nurses, for the most part, care. They are there for the patients, not the paycheck. It's why you know aren't going to get out on time but you spend the extra 20 minutes comforting or explaining or trying to lip-read your trached patient anyway; it's why you miss lunch or pee breaks, because every time you try to get a few minutes to yourself you find someone on the way down the hall who needs something. OK, sometimes it feels like self-interest--fine, I'll put the whiny old prune on the bedpan, because if I don't she'll jump over the side rails and land on her face and I'll have to fill out tons of paperwork and listen to her daughter scream at me on the phone and the supervisor scream at me in person. But really it's because you care. If you didn't care, it wouldn't bother you that you're spread too thin; you put in your time and go home. If you do care, you can get stressed out in any setting when things aren't going well or you just don't have the time to do what you know you should. I've worked numerous areas, mainly because I spent several years working for an agency; all of them had stress--even private duty home health (the stress of being bored out of my skull--I would rather work L&D, and I hate L&D with a passion).

I'd love to cruise around in fast cars and travel all the time, too. I too wanted a job that didn't get in the way of my playtime. But I was too scared to deal drugs and too proud to be a gold-digger. It's not about stress--it's about loving the kind of stress you'll have. Find out what setting and what pace you enjoy, and make your decisions based on what works for you.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

Nursing is not a calling to me, just a way to pay the bills. A career I know I can advance at. But that being said, I think it's rather arrogant to come on here & ask what the lowest stress, highest paying & possibly easiest job is.

It is an insult to us experienced nurses who have worked our tails off to get where we are. Unless you know someone, you are not gonna get your dream job right out of nursing school.

As far as pay is concerned, there is a pay gap but you are not gonna make more just because you're a guy.

If you're not even out of nursing school yet, I wouldn't put the cart before the horse.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

injured1 said:

I am going by what M.Ds tell me who teach A and P, especially on certain floors. It's not arrogant. Even a director, who was a women, said as a male your a minority and further discussed this on pay. Far as wall of text, I didn't know how many characters you could use, so I didn't paragraph everything. I am sure your comprehension is adequate to read and comprehend, as I did for others when reading. I simply discussed pay, laid out what I was told, right or wrong( comprehension comes into play there ). Then I asked anyone to chime in based on what I wrote based on what I was told. I could easily jump down someone's throat because Nursing is dominated by women, over by 80%. I could also say the same for OT, Health information etc. It's not sexist nor arrogant, it is citing what I was told...again yes the wall of text is hard, but if you actually read it, this would be understood.

I also incorporated what I would like, and agreed with the OPs thought of question. There is ROI. This is a business. Healthcare is a business, out patient care is a business. So in making a decision, salary should be a part of it. I then cited, " People say love what you do." I used an social worker as an example, on ROI. I stated this because some commented in a negative fashion to the OP question.

A social worker, they have to love what they do. You will go over 80-100k in debt, get a masters, to earn 42k. I think that is great, if you love it and that is for you...Just to make CLEAR, this is an example. This is bad ROI and economics. You spend all those years in school, and are in debt. Want to get a house because of your hard earned work? Look at the debt to income ratio? Imagine if you were more in debt, say 120k? Making 42k? So pay is a factor. You should want a happy life, and afford a house for hard work. Nurses work hard, and I think the ops question is valid. So not arrogant, nor meant to be. Sorry if you took it that way.

OK, so by now you've surely realized that paragraphs are not only OK here; they're encouraged. Please use them.

I cannot imagine that any reputable directors, physicians or teachers told you that you'd earn $2/hour by virtue of your gender.

You don't help your case by insulting those few people who even bothered to read your wall of text.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

injured1 said:

I am going by what M.Ds tell me who teach A and P, especially on certain floors. It's not arrogant. Even a director, who was a women, said as a male your a minority and further discussed this on pay. Far as wall of text, I didn't know how many characters you could use, so I didn't paragraph everything. I am sure your comprehension is adequate to read and comprehend, as I did for others when reading. I simply discussed pay, laid out what I was told, right or wrong( comprehension comes into play there ). Then I asked anyone to chime in based on what I wrote based on what I was told. I could easily jump down someone's throat because Nursing is dominated by women, over by 80%. I could also say the same for OT, Health information etc. It's not sexist nor arrogant, it is citing what I was told...again yes the wall of text is hard, but if you actually read it, this would be understood.

I also incorporated what I would like, and agreed with the OPs thought of question. There is ROI. This is a business. Healthcare is a business, out patient care is a business. So in making a decision, salary should be a part of it. I then cited, " People say love what you do." I used an social worker as an example, on ROI. I stated this because some commented in a negative fashion to the OP question.

A social worker, they have to love what they do. You will go over 80-100k in debt, get a masters, to earn 42k. I think that is great, if you love it and that is for you...Just to make CLEAR, this is an example. This is bad ROI and economics. You spend all those years in school, and are in debt. Want to get a house because of your hard earned work? Look at the debt to income ratio? Imagine if you were more in debt, say 120k? Making 42k? So pay is a factor. You should want a happy life, and afford a house for hard work. Nurses work hard, and I think the ops question is valid. So not arrogant, nor meant to be. Sorry if you took it that way.

If you are not talking to nursing hiring managers or to HR directly, what those people say mean next to nothing. Why would a doctor know how nursing pay works? Sorry, but the reality is that pay doesn't go by gender, it goes by experience. Have a sit down with a nurse manager or HR. Yes, there is still the wage gap but you will *absolutely* not get paid more just because you have a member.

Also, reading your huge block of text has nothing to do with comprehension. It is unprofessional as well as hard on the eyes to read. If I see a big wall of text, I'm not about to spend my time reading it. If you don't bother to edit your post accordingly, why should I waste my time & read it?

Your arrogance & ignorance is really mind blowing.

[injured1]

Then never go into HIM..Health Information or informatics. I give respect to those who show it. Obviously, if your arrogant and ill willed, you will get the same back on your initial response. Is this toddler town? Sorry, I am not the catty type.

I say don't go into health informatics, as you have to abstract data, and analyze through a great deal of information( unless this is your form of ignorance leading by emotion in replies, or a bad day). You don't have time to throw a hissy fit. So, I admitted 4 times now, that yes it is hard to read the original reply. However, again for your own comprehension, I did not know how many characters one could fit, so I didn't paragraph much.

Also, far as pay, I respect people's answers. However, behind closed doors people have told me being a male pays more. I even heard this for P.T. If I state the reasons, I am sure everyone will flip out....as what has been displayed already in this thread is any type of an example. So, understand context....I personally did not say it, it was from Directors and also M.Ds. The M.Ds at our college taught A&P. It was not something they screamed out. One on one talks.

Far as a Director, it was a director of nursing, who was a women. I never would have woke up myself and thought that, as nursing is dominated by women. I was also told you are not heavily compensated for years of experience. I thought it would. Unless you are a B.S.N in a supervisors position, your pay increases are minimal year to year. So, I correlated that and understood why some Vets would be angry about a new Nurse pay grade. Now, could that information be wrong, yes.

If you go back and read, and can conceptually get around a paragraph( no ill will intended ), then you can see I also said what about psych nurse? I was told they make $4-5 more an hr because a lot of nurses do not like it. I then coupled that idea with the OPs concern, low stress. So I then mentioned night shifts, so no administration around. Given nights have shift differential, of what I was told of around $2 an hour. I stated that $2 an hour is not much if your making $28 an hour. That is only $80 a week.

However, if you break what I said above down...You have $28 an hr+$4-5 psych Differential+$2 Night Shift Diff+( what I was told ....Again what I was told ) $2 of being a male nurse on psych=around $34-36 an hour, with limited administration around at those hours.

After that, I then mentioned to the OP, being a NP. Also, being an NP in psych, as there was a topic on here that stated Mental Health Nps making 110k to start. I also then asked the OP, what about Health informatics?

The OP asked what specialties have great pay and low stress. I figured well, night shift, limited admin. Based on what I was told, the info on Shift differential, working in psych etc. However, because I do not know first hand, I said maybe others can chime in. However, many did read ....ONLY what they wanted. See, in order to see I wrote $2 extra dollars for a male( in particular in specialties )...You had to have read what I wrote, but CHOSE to only read/reply what struck an emotional cord, which I kind of understand if your taking it out of context. So there was some reading.

Finally, I agreed pay has to factor in, and gave an example of 120k in debt making 42k with a masters. The ROI, and the economics. Your debt to income ratio is huge. So for all that hard work for social work, you would want a house? However, look at that debt to income, then ask a bank for a mortgage for a descent house. I said this because a person stated, " You have to love what you do."...dismissing salary. However, I believe salary should be a factor.

Healthcare is a business. Period. Why do you think HIT abstracts data to improve outcomes, but also to streamline healthcare? If we are going to get upset about issues, this could be one. You have people who are not clinicians, no clinical background, making and telling people how to deliver care or playing a nice role in it.

Now My personal interests( which at this point you may stop reading, as it goes off topic a little ), as stated to the OP, I am interested in Gastric Bypass, Stroke, and ostomy patients.However, did not know if there was a niche for rehab nurse, to actually physically be involved in the physical rehab/psych. I then stated I was passing a room with a Psych.D in it, and all these patients. There was also a wound Nurse and a Ostomy Nurse etc. However, the issues were not being addressed.

People above had optional surgery, however, some needed to lose x amount of weight and gain x amount of weight. One women needed to lose 70 lbs. However, no one was telling her ' How". She went through P.T....However, no one told her how. So, I started to talk about weight training. I asked, can you open up a door? She replied, " Yes". I Informed her, we call this a "Row". I then asked, " Can you sit down?" She replied, " Yes". I stated, "We call this a seated row." I then asked..." Can you pick up groceries from the floor?" She said, " Yes." I then informed her, " This is called a squat or deadlift. You can use the same muscles on a leg press." I also noticed she had a fwd deposition. You see this a lot with athletes who only focus on bench press. The internal head of the humerus in rotated in, the subscapulars are weak. They lack Rhomboid development. This Fwd deposition can cause the bicep tendon, which inserts into the radius and into the shoulder groove, going into the pec..to expand. However, it will show zero subluxation on MRI. So they will send them to P.T....however, it will not matter nor help, if Biceps. Tendons are like rubber bands, they expand over time. So then this leads to impingement, etc. However, if you get people in thoracic extension, then they gain strength posterior and also can help that shoulder.

See these people had Physical conditions, but everyone focused on there physical but not the True mental. I kept on talking about training and functional movements....and the room started clapping. Basically all that talking prior was not addressing the " Issues". The women came up to me in the parking lot and started crying, as her husband would not be intimate, and her youngest child was in the last year of highschool, time was going by and she was miserable. So for the surgeons, she is kind of a success far as mortality.....but what about her quality of life? Do people see beyond just the disorder, and see the person? This was the first time i ever met these people. I just decided F this, and start talking about the facts of the matter. The fact is, some needed this surgery and the weight loss, but had zero , I mean zero guidance as to lose the weight. So one issue becomes two issues.

Anyway, have a good day:).

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

injured1 said:

Then never go into HIM..Health Information or informatics. I give respect to those who show it. Obviously, if your arrogant and ill willed, you will get the same back on your initial response. Is this toddler town? Sorry, I am not the catty type.

I say don't go into health informatics, as you have to abstract data, and analyze through a great deal of information( unless this is your form of ignorance leading by emotion in replies, or a bad day). You don't have time to throw a hissy fit. So, I admitted 4 times now, that yes it is hard to read the original reply. However, again for your own comprehension, I did not know how many characters one could fit, so I didn't paragraph much.

Also, far as pay, I respect people's answers. However, behind closed doors people have told me being a male pays more. I even heard this for P.T. If I state the reasons, I am sure everyone will flip out....as what has been displayed already in this thread is any type of an example. So, understand context....I personally did not say it, it was from Directors and also M.Ds. The M.Ds at our college taught A&P. It was not something they screamed out. One on one talks.

Far as a Director, it was a director of nursing, who was a women. I never would have woke up myself and thought that, as nursing is dominated by women. I was also told you are not heavily compensated for years of experience. I thought it would. Unless you are a B.S.N in a supervisors position, your pay increases are minimal year to year. So, I correlated that and understood why some Vets would be angry about a new Nurse pay grade. Now, could that information be wrong, yes.

If you go back and read, and can conceptually get around a paragraph( no ill will intended ), then you can see I also said what about psych nurse? I was told they make $4-5 more an hr because a lot of nurses do not like it. I then coupled that idea with the OPs concern, low stress. So I then mentioned night shifts, so no administration around. Given nights have shift differential, of what I was told of around $2 an hour. I stated that $2 an hour is not much if your making $28 an hour. That is only $80 a week.

However, if you break what I said above down...You have $28 an hr+$4-5 psych Differential+$2 Night Shift Diff+( what I was told ....Again what I was told ) $2 of being a male nurse on psych=around $34-36 an hour, with limited administration around at those hours.

After that, I then mentioned to the OP, being a NP. Also, being an NP in psych, as there was a topic on here that stated Mental Health Nps making 110k to start. I also then asked the OP, what about Health informatics?

The OP asked what specialties have great pay and low stress. I figured well, night shift, limited admin. Based on what I was told, the info on Shift differential, working in psych etc. However, because I do not know first hand, I said maybe others can chime in. However, many did read ....ONLY what they wanted. See, in order to see I wrote $2 extra dollars for a male( in particular in specialties )...You had to have read what I wrote, but CHOSE to only read/reply what struck an emotional cord, which I kind of understand if your taking it out of context. So there was some reading.

Finally, I agreed pay has to factor in, and gave an example of 120k in debt making 42k with a masters. The ROI, and the economics. Your debt to income ratio is huge. So for all that hard work for social work, you would want a house? However, look at that debt to income, then ask a bank for a mortgage for a descent house. I said this because a person stated, " You have to love what you do."...dismissing salary. However, I believe salary should be a factor.

Healthcare is a business. Period. Why do you think HIT abstracts data to improve outcomes, but also to streamline healthcare? If we are going to get upset about issues, this could be one. You have people who are not clinicians, no clinical background, making and telling people how to deliver care or playing a nice role in it.

Now My personal interests( which at this point you may stop reading, as it goes off topic a little ), as stated to the OP, I am interested in Gastric Bypass, Stroke, and ostomy patients.However, did not know if there was a niche for rehab nurse, to actually physically be involved in the physical rehab/psych. I then stated I was passing a room with a Psych.D in it, and all these patients. There was also a wound Nurse and a Ostomy Nurse etc. However, the issues were not being addressed.

People above had optional surgery, however, some needed to lose x amount of weight and gain x amount of weight. One women needed to lose 70 lbs. However, no one was telling her ' How". She went through P.T....However, no one told her how. So, I started to talk about weight training. I asked, can you open up a door? She replied, " Yes". I Informed her, we call this a "Row". I then asked, " Can you sit down?" She replied, " Yes". I stated, "We call this a seated row." I then asked..." Can you pick up groceries from the floor?" She said, " Yes." I then informed her, " This is called a squat or deadlift. You can use the same muscles on a leg press." I also noticed she had a fwd deposition. You see this a lot with athletes who only focus on bench press. The internal head of the humerus in rotated in, the subscapulars are weak. They lack Rhomboid development. This Fwd deposition can cause the bicep tendon, which inserts into the radius and into the shoulder groove, going into the pec..to expand. However, it will show zero subluxation on MRI. So they will send them to P.T....however, it will not matter nor help, if Biceps. Tendons are like rubber bands, they expand over time. So then this leads to impingement, etc. However, if you get people in thoracic extension, then they gain strength posterior and also can help that shoulder.

See these people had Physical conditions, but everyone focused on there physical but not the True mental. I kept on talking about training and functional movements....and the room started clapping. Basically all that talking prior was not addressing the " Issues". The women came up to me in the parking lot and started crying, as her husband would not be intimate, and her youngest child was in the last year of highschool, time was going by and she was miserable. So for the surgeons, she is kind of a success far as mortality.....but what about her quality of life? Do people see beyond just the disorder, and see the person? This was the first time i ever met these people. I just decided F this, and start talking about the facts of the matter. The fact is, some needed this surgery and the weight loss, but had zero , I mean zero guidance as to lose the weight. So one issue becomes two issues.

Anyway, have a good day:).

Thank you for figuring out how to use paragraphs. We all understood your ignorance when you neglected to use them in the first post -- we're not Twitter -- but by the second post, you could have figured it out. Oh well. Third time is the charm.

There is still a wage gap in nursing, despite the fact that nurses are predominately female. However I find it very, very difficult to believe that anyone would tell you that you automatically get an extra $2 per hour for having a member. That would be illegal. And I find it difficult to comprehend how you could believe such a thing, coming as it did from people who aren't involved in HR and in the case of the MD, not in charge of hiring or compensation.

Given the above, I find your attitude of arrogance and superiority somewhat puzzling. Unless you believe that your gender makes you somehow "better than" all of us over-emotional and clueless females here.

PT -- assuming you're actually discussing Physical Therapy -- is not about teaching someone how to lose weight. It's about returning function after an illness or injury. If someone wants to learn how to lose weight, there are literally thousands of resources out there, starting with Weight Watchers. Googling "lose weight" gives you a plethora of returns, and there are dozens of apps available for your phone to help. I fail to understand why you find it so incomprehensible that a physical therapist didn't teach someone "how to lose weight." PT requires a script, and I doubt the script said "Teach patient to lose weight." It probably said something about strengthening knees or core muscles or improving flexibility to alleviate back pain. If the physician wanted to write a script for weight loss, he would be more likely to consult a nutritionist. And some major hospitals have weight loss programs that she could have been pointed toward.

As far as the OP's question -- different people find different things to be stressful. The valuable answers in this thread pointed not to specific job descriptions but toward the OP figure out what in particular stresses him out and what he finds easy, then figuring out which jobs have more of the second and less of the first.

[Wandrlust]

I totally understand the question you're asking and I think it is valid, because so many nurses are miserable at their jobs-I'd be cautious and worried as a new grad too!

I have been working postpartum/nursery for almost 7 years now, since graduating in 2009, and find it very low stress- or at least a different type of stress. It's crazy busy, but manageable in my opinion. Most patients are healthy and stable. It can be mentally boring at times, because you spend the day teaching the same thing over and over so you really have to like this particular specialty (which I do). Word of advice, I've tried to get into different specialties, but nobody will hire me other than an OB unit because I have no experience in any other area, it's really frustrating! And then they have the audacity to ask why I've stayed in that particular specialty that long! I have a few friends who work in pre-op and they love it, they prep the patient for surgery, start the IV and have the patient sign paperwork..you may want to check that out.

[AliNajaCat]

Oh, boy. I'm late to this party, but this should be interesting.

Short answer: As a new grad, you take the job you can get. There will be no specialization. And besides, you'll probably fall in love with something completely different than you expect. You can search the site and find several threads like this one and get some ideas there.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

But then you might be missing out on all the fun!!!

There are times when my shift is stressful and terrible and heartbreaking but if it's a chill day that is low-stress, I am B-O-R-E-D. I'm not learning anything, I'm not earning my money, I'm not helping anyone -- it sucks. Most everyone I work with feels the same way. I will be, however, looking forward to my experience in what I am doing to get me to a position that is, perhaps, more predictable in terms of workload and less stressful and ultimately less death-y (which I've already had enough of). But, that is years from now because I am just starting out as a nurse and I have no clue what I am doing so I will have few days of actually being bored. Though there are days I am like, "Oh god *** was that AND I have to come back tomorrow?!!?" I wouldn't trade it for anything, not even a boring, easy day.

So, for now, look forward to finding something that is challenging, stressful, full of learning opportunities and providing you the experience you need to get into a "less stressful job" that requires all that you learned from all that stress and experience. You won't get that fresh out of nursing school, though but you can mitigate the stress though. I lucked out -- I got into a fabulous floor specializing off the bat and I can't imagine it being the normal "adult med-surg for 1-2+ years slog" that is generally recommended. That does decrease the stress. The money, though, isn't so great (kids are kind of a resource-suck so there's not too much money to go around -- unless you're in endocrinology).

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

I work in an extremely busy LTC, often times understaffed. I've been in LTC for 20 years. I'm good at what i do and know what I need to do. Everyday is stressful, some day's I'd like to scream and actually do. I get paid a very comfortable rate. My point....I like what I do. I thrive on the stress and business at work. I manage the stress and probably wouldn't know what do do without it.

Is that crazy? Probably. I've been at the same place for those 20 years and have worked at other places PT and PRN. I get bored at the "less stressful" places.

Bottom line.....love what you do. At least have a strong like for it!

[MA Nurse]

But home care pays close to nothing where I live.