9 months in, quitting to work private practice

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I've been doing nights in med surg with all of the usual complaints - extreme short staffing (we are often two nurses short), high ratios of acutely ill patients, bad management. When I had started the job I had determined to try and stick it out a year. I've had two consecutive shifts that were so bad I didn't pee in 14 hours and could barely walk afterwards. I just hate working nights and weekends, I hate what working nights is doing to my marriage and how much strain it's put on us. I hate how much stress I bring home with me and how it bleeds into the rest of my life. Day shifts are even busier and still short staffed so it's not really a fix, plus there's the added "bonus" of having everyone's family there. I hate the abuse from management and patient's families. I know this is part of what's in the package deal but it's really bleeding me of empathy and it seemed like a bad sign that I'm burned out this fast. Everything I'm struggling with about bedside nursing comes down to bureaucracy, which is the same everywhere. My manager has refused to allow me to transfer and honestly, it doesn't matter because it seems like other areas are dealing with the same issues. I strongly suspect bedside nursing is not right for me.

On a lark, I went through an agency that had gotten me a CNA job years ago and interviewed at several private practice jobs and ambulatory surgery centers and found myself with several job offers, much to my surprise. Money was similar to hospital (benefits unfortunately were not, they stunk, but I have insurance through my husband), 9-5, seemed like the nurses had a high degree of independence and self-sufficiency and were overall happy with their jobs.

I just worry I'm kneecapping myself professionally by leaving this job so early. The hospital has a horrible reputation and we're on the verge of a strike, but I'm not closed to ever working in a hospital again - just not in med surg. I'm glad I learned what I did at this job but part of me feels thrilled with the idea of being able to have some semblance of a normal schedule and be able to see my friends.

I'd love to hear from nurses who have spent most of their career outside the hospital setting. Is this a great opportunity or a terrible mistake? What are the challenges that come with working in a private practice setting and how does the stress compare to working in a hospital.

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

21 years now all in outpatient. Clinic for a long time, case management, and then research at a university for the last 11. No regrets. I occasionally think about being "a real nurse" or did over the years, but not seriously :).

It comes with it's own stresses and frustrations like any job, but for me it was the right decision.

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Specializes in Ambulatory Care-Family Medicine.

I'm an LVN in a clinic and I love it. My charge nurse (RN) worked two years in the hospital and has been at this clinic over 20 years now. Our sister clinic charge nurse did a year at the hospital and has been clinic for 10 years. Everyone has to find their niche and what makes them happy. I'm currently working on my RN and have a few verbal job offers from clinics in the area for when I finish. If I accept one there's a good chance I may never work in the hospital and I've actually been told by my managers that's ok as long as you have longevity with your clinic jobs it will outweigh not having hospital experience at most places.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

I absolutely agree that hospital jobs are not the 'end-all & be-all' in nursing. There are many options out there & if you want to make the switch - good for you! No job is worth sacrificing your family, personal life and health. You could always switch to a PRN status for the hospital if you wanted to keep the acute care door open for the future.

Also - I advise you to speak to your HR department about your managers "refusal" to let you transfer. They may be very interested in the fact that a poor manager is basically chasing qualified staff out the door.

Best of luck on your new job.

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Unfortunately blocking transfers is the only way she can stop staff from bleeding (more like hemorrhaging) from the department, and there seems to be a fresh batch of new grads constantly flowing in. In my time, a third of the people in my orientation group have left and didn't even make it a full year. Thanks for the words of encouragement, I am going to explore the PRN route should I feel the need to be "nursey" and to help me keep some of my skills, but overall I feel very excited by this opportunity and challenged by the task of what I'll need to learn for this new job.

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Specializes in family practice and school nursing.

1 year of hospital med/surg. Family practice office for like 16 yrs , then school nursing for 14 yrs. No regrets!

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

I've NEVER worked hospital! There are SO many options out there, if you're unhappy, run for the hills

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Thank you so much everyone for your input - I accepted a new position today that offers a lot of autonomy and I will need to quickly bring myself up to speed, but it seems like a good challenge. I'm scared but ready for it!

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I'm an LVN in a clinic and I love it. My charge nurse (RN) worked two years in the hospital and has been at this clinic over 20 years now. Our sister clinic charge nurse did a year at the hospital and has been clinic for 10 years. Everyone has to find their niche and what makes them happy. I'm currently working on my RN and have a few verbal job offers from clinics in the area for when I finish. If I accept one there's a good chance I may never work in the hospital and I've actually been told by my managers that's ok as long as you have longevity with your clinic jobs it will outweigh not having hospital experience at most places.

What are the duties of a RN in a clinic? How much experience do we need to work in Clinic?

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What are the duties of a RN in a clinic? How much experience do we need to work in Clinic?

I graduated a year ago in New Orleans with my ADN, I chose ADN over BSN because of the school I wanted to go to. I am a VERY hands on learner and did my best learning in clinical and the school I chose gave us tons of clinical experience. I was all set to graduate and start in an ER but then my husband's job transferred him to Virginia. Well, the part of Virginia I am in must really have something against New grad ADN's because it's been a year of applying at the 3 hospitals near me and I don't even get call backs, even with many years of pre nursing school experience working as an stress test/ECG technician and inpatient Geriatric psych. So I started in an Urgent Care clinic to at least have work and some experience and when I first started I worked mostly in the clinic doing triage, strep testing, flu testing, giving meds (mostly IM and some iv fluids) but now mainly work with retrieving our lab results and reviewing them and either calling patients to advise them about their labs or talking with our doctors about our critical labs. It's flexible and not terrible but I'd like to get into a hospital for better pay and the opportunity to keep my skills fresh. I plan on starting my BSN soon and pray that will help me get into a position but from what I'm learning, hospital jobs are like political games here. Anyway there are lots of clinic RN jobs, but they often come with using less skills and less pay.

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Specializes in Ambulatory Care-Family Medicine.
What are the duties of a RN in a clinic? How much experience do we need to work in Clinic?

The biggest difference between the RN and LVN in my clinic is the RN has to do the phone triage. In Texas LVNs can only do in person focused assessments and obviously phone triage falls outside of that. We both room patients, do basic teachings (insulin, vaccines, etc), injections, the occasional IV or cath, lab draws when our lab tech is out, complete phone messages which include relaying lab results, oversee the CMAs. Our one RN is charge also so she has all the manager duties that comes with that but nursing wise the difference is triage. When she's not there I am the go to person and our call center RNs (who cover us after hours normally but are staffed 24/7 to cover the whole system) will do the triage when needed. Our providers will also take a triage call if I need them to.

I know at some of the specialty clinics the RNs get to do more procedure type stuff and they do have some meds that LVNs can't give, just my small family practice clinic doesn't.

If you are looking for an exciting fast paced job like the ER clinic nursing is not it. The pay is typically lower than our hospital counterparts. However the hours are great. Typically min-fri, no holidays, weekends, or call. Low stress. Don't have to worry about getting called in on your day off. Vacation time is easier to use because coverage is not as big of an issue as hospital. But you won't get to use your hands on skills near as much. It's rally a trade off. Right now for me the hours are more important than the pay or skill set.

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