New RN, but not interested in hospital bedside nursing

[scubanurse2000]

Hello,

This is my first post, but I have looked up advice at allnurses for years. I am a new RN, this is my second career, and I have previous college education in other areas. I used to work in corporate environment and got into nursing to combine my love of all things medical with the opportunity to help people help themselves. I know some people may think I am nuts, but I have no interest in hospital bedside nursing. I plan to work and gain experience for a couple of years then complete my MSN for either FNP or go into research. Nursing offers so much in terms of career options, I just do not know of options for a new RN outside of the Med/Surg hospital route. Even if I could land a job in a hospital in this economy, I feel that I would be taking a spot away from someone who has a passion for bedside hospital nursing. I have completed several rotations at sub-acute and LTC facilities, would they offer good experience before becoming a NP or to work in research? I would love to hear from some of you who did not go through the hospital to gain experience. My goal is to eventually work in preventative care.

[MatrixRn]

Hi ShillaBSN,

I have checked and not all require acute care/hospital experience (I am in CA-SF Bay area). A few of my friends have gone the RN-NP straight from their ADN with little or no experience. I just need to be out of school to get over study burnout for a year or two and use my brain in a different way - taking care of patients and figuring out where I can do the most good in this profession. More importantly, I want to spend some quality time with my family before my children get too old to want to hang with me. :)

I believe that one of the reasons acute care is not required by all of the MSN programs is the economy is not allowing enough nurses to find jobs that would supply that acute care experience in the first place.

I hear you there....getting a little break before jumping back into school is always a good thing.

If the grad programs do not require it then the type of work you decide to is up to you. You might want to consider office nurse, as a future FNP, that would be your area.