Med surg to urgent care?

Published

Hi Guys,

So I've been on my med surg floor for just over a year now (night shift) but received a job offer for a full time rn position in urgent care!! I am mostly excited to get away from night shift but I'm a bit concerned about the transition and hence hesitant to accept the job.

I knew going from inpatient to urgent care would be a pay cut, but from what they offered me, it would be a 20 percent lower pay than my base pay currently. Does this sound reasonable? Or absolutely ridiculous?

Also, i'm worried about my role as an RN. I've never worked with MAs or LPNs and am a little confused as to the different roles utilized in urgent care. The interviewer explained that the MAs are trained to do everything I would be doing as an RN (vitals, ekg, IVs, blood draws) but only the RNs are able to do IV push medications so that is why we are needed. I wonder if I will be bored in this role? Or not utilizing my full clinical skills??

Will the other staff treat me differently if I have my bsn and am pursuing a master's?? I know many hospitals are starting to hire only bsn prepared nurses, what about outpatients??

I know that once I leave the hospital, I likely will not be able to return but that is ok since I have no desire to work on a floor as an NP. I am interested in urgent care because while you see the same old utis, sore throat, physicals etc, I think this job will be more applicable experience for my FNP. And this location also sees a lot of chest pain, PEs and anaphylaxis which will provide some variety!

Opinions?? I guess I am just looking for some encouragement to make the big leap and leave the job that i dont really like but am comfortable at.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Cardiac, ER, Pediatrics, Corrections.

Trust me, you will love the hours and the less stressful days than nights on the floor. It gets busy and yeah there is a paycut, but I have my nights and weekends! :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in education, school nursing, med-surg, urgent care.

If you're interested in being a FNP, then I would think that urgent care would allow you to see a nice range of conditions that a FNP would be responsible for. Personally, I'm glad to have left hospital/bedside nursing... no more c-diff, heparin drips, foleys or call bells!!! You're right that you can expect a pay cut but try to negotiate as much as you can. As laKurg mentioned, there are other benefits! When I left the hospital for urgent care someone said that I will be "pleasantly bored", which is sometimes the case when the day is slow. But I like being able to "treat 'em and street 'em" as they say. I have not come across any problems working with rad techs or MA's with respect to our overlapping roles. In fact, being the RN may even set you up to be the lead clinical person, coordinator, staff leader, clinical manager or some other title with added benefits. Best of luck in whatever you decide!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thank you both!! I took the job and am excited to see what urgent care is like and yes I do think it will be more beneficial for my future as an fnp...But mostly excited about being a normal functioning dayshift person rather than my current zombie state!! :):):)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion