New RN position offered - clinical vs administrative route

[karol_d5]

Hi,

I work for a community health center as an OBGYN nurse. I absolutely love my job for 2 reasons: obgyn and patient population (low-income, first generation immigrant).

I was recently offered a new position within the health center from one of the doctors in the senior management. The position is for a clinical documentation specialist. It a really hot topic in the clinic now because of changes in the way we will be refunded by the insurance company.

The pros are that I will be getting training in coding and doing something new (hoping that it will look good on my resume), it falls along the lines of my masters degree (nursing administration), from what I read it involves a lot of critical thinking, and I'll be working directly with the senior management.

Cons are little to no patient care, zero OBGYN exposure, and I fear it might take it farther away from patient care and my ultimate goal of becoming a women's health NP.

I know I cannot advance clinically unless I return to school for my WHNP but I'm just not sure if this job will take me in that farther away from this goal or it might be something that will not really harm me at all but give me an extra edge down the line.

Thank you in advance!

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

It's not directly in line with your goal of becoming an NP, but the skills you gain could prove valuable in the future. If you work as an NP in a practice or for yourself, you'd have insight into enhancing reimbursement. Best wishes!

[llg, PhD, RN]

It sounds to me like one of those situation in which it might be best to "keep your hand in" with your old job by working per diem now and then if you decide to try this new job. It sounds very non-clinical to me and unless you are sure you want to leave physical care behind for good, it would be best to keep your physical care skills current.