Any urgent care LPN's?

[KCNURSEGUY]

Hello, I have been looking to make a change from the Skilled Rehab unit I currently charge overnights. I have been thinking of trying out Urgent Care sitting while I got back to school and bridge. I was hoping to find out what a typical day is like in urgent care and what are your responsibilities and duties. I prefer lots of pt care and interaction, I heavily use my skill set now and I'm worried I would only be rooming pt. Thanks for any advice or insight you all may have.

[gabrielle808, BSN, LPN, LVN, RN]

i am also curious what LPN's do in an urgent care setting.. im planning to move from chronic dialysis(4 years experience) to urgent care clinic. any tips or advice about urgent care?

[amandab13]

I'm in Alberta, Canada and work in the ER.

Not sure if I can help tho..

[Idaho_nurse]

I work part time in an Urgent Care setting and part time in Home Health. If you are looking to use your skills, avoid Urgent Care. Basically your duties are that of an MA. Not that they dont work, but compared to your skills in other places, you dont do much more than run labs and do vitals. Your main job will be rooming the patient, getting vs, and then ordering any tests that the doctor or PA wants done. Setting up xrays, collecting urine, maybe blood (but not often in Urgent care), as most patients you see are injuries and colds etc. Occasionally I will do dressings but very rarely. The Urgent Care I work at also has a family practice medical clinic, so we do see more "regular" patients, but they do try to keep general visits and urgent care type visits separate. I work there because it is less than a mile from my home, but if it wasnt for the high skill that I use working in Home Health, it would drive me crazy. Like you, I am very hands on and enjoy using my skills. I get very bored working UC.

Hope that helped your question.

[tiffanyB12]

I work full time in Urgent Care and I love my job to pieces!! There is never a dull moment! I enjoy my time there and often at the end of the shift I don't want to leave. I work office hours during the week, and some weekends once in a while (but only occasionally).

As far as my duties, there is a big variety. We do a lot of blood draws, electrocardiograms, injections and UA dipsticks all day long. Occasionally patients need an IV, and I love doing those. I assist the providers with minor surgeries or procedures, and always end up doing wound care after. I also assist doctors with GYN exams. I process labs, do autoclave of surgical instruments. I also do TB tests, strep tests, mono tests, flu tests (during flu season), and immunizations as needed. We have a big closet of orthopedic supplies for various injuries (crutches, splints, slings, etc) and I get to help the patient fitting them properly and provide education about the device. There is a variety of things to do. We also have occupational medicine and do drug screens and pre-employment physicals. I work with 1-2 medical assistants and 1-2 doctors every day. Our doctors are fantastic and truly work with us as a team. Another thing is that Urgent Care can get stressful at times, but is not nearly as stressful as Emergency Department or a hospital floor would be. Urgent Care is way easier compared to other settings I worked at before. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[Daddysmoonbeam]

I work urgent and non urgent care in a prison in Texas. You Definately use your skills no doubt there. I work through agency as travel nurse so I'm not stuck at one prison I can mix it up some. Yes Lpn s can travel.

[Sassy-RN]

I worked in Urgent Care as an LPN while going back to school for my RN. I really liked it. I learned a lot saw some interesting stuff. But, I came from a clinic setting.