Made the switch to go outpatient about 6 months ago and am regretting it. Everything I learned about in nursing school is a waste with what I do now. The clinic I am at has a lot of occupational medicine. It's the same thing day in and day out- pee in this cup, here's your TB test, read this vision chart, your BP is too high for your DOT exam, etc. I feel as if I work at a DMV with an endless amount of people in line. I came from a med/surg environment where the nurses frequently (including myself at the time) complained about having 5-6 patients. I am now missing having only 5-6 versus 80-100 a day. The short staffing is way worse than I ever imagined being outpatient. I miss seeing patients get better with my care, following plan of cares, critically thinking, and having autonomy. I fell into the trap of thinking at the time I was inpatient that "the grass is greener on the other side." I've interviewed with 2 inpatient positions so far and wasn't chosen for either one. Just at a loss.
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Made the switch to go outpatient about 6 months ago and am regretting it. Everything I learned about in nursing school is a waste with what I do now. The clinic I am at has a lot of occupational medicine. It's the same thing day in and day out- pee in this cup, here's your TB test, read this vision chart, your BP is too high for your DOT exam, etc. I feel as if I work at a DMV with an endless amount of people in line. I came from a med/surg environment where the nurses frequently (including myself at the time) complained about having 5-6 patients. I am now missing having only 5-6 versus 80-100 a day. The short staffing is way worse than I ever imagined being outpatient. I miss seeing patients get better with my care, following plan of cares, critically thinking, and having autonomy. I fell into the trap of thinking at the time I was inpatient that "the grass is greener on the other side." I've interviewed with 2 inpatient positions so far and wasn't chosen for either one. Just at a loss.