Members are discussing the stress levels and compensation in various nursing specialties. Some members mention that nursing is a practical means to earn a living, while others share their experiences in different nursing roles such as hospice nursing, med/surg, and occupational health nursing. There is also mention of the importance of clinical experience, finding one's niche in nursing, and managing stress through coping mechanisms and self-care.
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.
Yes! Now that I'm 63 I'm doing one on one care with a little boy who is total care. I work night shift and i snack all night and watch tv. I've done everything else in nursing. Old and tired. But I wouldn't recommend it for a new nurse. You need to use those new skills and be challenged. Or why even become a nurse?
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Harveyslake said:
How the hospital could pay the same rate to the GI Lab nurses as the Trauma/Neuro ICU nurses is beyond belief!!!! Comparatively speaking, the GI lab nurses do nothing!
Let's not turn this into a specialty war, please.
For me, the OR is a mix of stressful and not stressful. There are days where my patient is coding on the table, days where we can't get the patient off of cardiopulmonary bypass and they don't make it out of surgery, days where I'm getting called at 0300 to come in and work on someone doing their darnedest to die from that gunshot wound, and then there are days where all my cases go smoothly and I get to go home on time. Do I get paid well? I'd argue about my base salary, but with all of my on call and call back hours, yeah, I make more than the average joe. Takes a toll on family and social life though.
Honestly, I think you're looking for a Holy Grail that doesn't exist.
I'm a research nurse, I generally work 8 hours shifts BUT depending on the study protocol can work 12 hours although rare. I don't work weekends or holidays as the clinic is closed these days. There is lots of reading, at any time I can am work off 5 study protocols and must know the procedures and guidelines for each and every one of them. In my opinion, any specialty can be stressful but as long as you enjoy what you're doing and have good workers than it is manageable. Do something you enjoy to do and it'll be much easier for you, good luck!
I don't know the answer to your question because higher paying jobs are more stressful jobs. The only solution is to find something that most people find to be stressful but you don't.
I have a great sense of humor, I could not have made it 35 years in nursing without it.
You found it hilarious, I did not. I was ticked that a student came onto the forum, trying to pick our brains about the easy road.
I apologize, I didn't mean to come across as snarky. However, the thought of someone who isn't a nurse yet and is asking for advise on finding "the highest pay, lowest stress nursing job" seems not hilarious "haha" to me, but hilarious in the sense that it's not realistic...and OP isn't going to find it. Hence my comment that the OP is looking for a unicorn. All nursing jobs involve stress, and it's never a predictable amount of stress. So, the OP can ask here on this forum, or anywhere but they're never going to find that unicorn. I think you have miscommunication my humour...which is fine, understandable as it's difficult to convey tone via this medium of communication. Meh, there's a lid for every pot Hope you had a nice weekend ?
I work on a stroke rehab floor. The days have busy spurts, generally spaced with a bit of downtime. Nights can be really chill on the floor when patients are sleeping.
Typical duties: passing meds (rarely any IVs), ADLs - changing clothes and taking to bathroom, cleaning up poop (though techs handle 50+% of this stuff), and meals. That's about it. What makes it busy is we can have up to 6 patients, and each tech has 6-10 patients. Pretty common for the tech to be busy so the RN has to do their own dirty work.
Patients tend to be older and/or overweight and their bodies can no longer keep up, but general acuity isn't too bad. A bit depressing though.
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
What you need to discover is which nursing jobs are the most stressful for you and plan accordingly. I have been a non-acute care nurse for 24 years and none of my jobs have been low stress because I care immensely about what I do. However, I would not do it if I was not paid well :)
The OP said "still great pay." Private duty is the lowest paying nursing specialty around. At the agency I was a manager at (not for PDN patients but we had a large PDN population), all RNs were paid the same, regardless of experience and their hourly rate was the same as I made as a new grad 9 years ago.
To answer the OP, you will not find what you are looking for right out of school. My jobs have gotten progressively easier/less stressful and better paying as I've gone along in my career. I am currently working the least stressful job I've ever had and making about 50% more than I ever made working in the hospital. But I've been a nurse for 9 years.
Maybe,but it is low stress most times.
The LTC facilities are starting at $28/hr while my rate is $31/hr,plus I can get overtime or work 2 agencies,which attests to how low stress it is.
I think comfort level has a lot to do with stress. I worked BMT for years. BMT would be considered by many to be an extremely stressful specialty. For my first 2 years I felt the stress intensely. Years 3-5 I felt more comfortable, but still felt a bit uneasy going into work not knowing what I would get, taking on difficult patients or complex family dynamics, and learning new roles like charge and precepting. After that it all became quite routine and I felt like I could care for 3 BMT patients in my sleep. BMT patients would not stress me out a bit, but start talking to me about surgical wounds and my eyes will glaze over in a minute in a haze of confusion.
Hope you had a nice weekend 
eieiyo
34 Posts
Yes! Now that I'm 63 I'm doing one on one care with a little boy who is total care. I work night shift and i snack all night and watch tv. I've done everything else in nursing. Old and tired. But I wouldn't recommend it for a new nurse. You need to use those new skills and be challenged. Or why even become a nurse?