Not a fan of the hospital setting...help!

[englishjeny22]

Hello!

I'm a first time poster! I'm just about to finish my second semester (block) in an accelerated RN program. I've thought about quitting several times. I love helping people and having this knowledge and something inside me tells me not to give up but I think I honestly hate the hospital setting. I can't put my finger on what it is exactly but I still have to talk to myself and talk myself out of a panic attack when I go to clinicals, lol. I got into this initially cos I thought about becoming a diabetes educator...I've never been interested in working in a hospital as a regular floor nurse. I think it would be cool to work in a clinic or with an Endo or in the community somehow. But all our clinicals and all discussions revolve around hospital nursing and its starting to make me feel stuck. Everyone tells me I need to get at least 2 years in med-surg experience in the hospital before I do anything else. I'm not opposed to working on the floor, I just don't feel thats my niche and its just not what I want. Is that wrong? I feel almost guilty for not liking the hospital and I would love to just run as far as possible from there after I graduate. lol. It's hard to find people that understand what I mean because most nurses work in the hospital. Does anyone have any advice on how to get through this? I have 9 more months of hospital rotations and I just want to give up. I feel like there is no light at the end of my tunnel cos I feel like I'm gonna have to get a job that I don't want and don't like. Is it ok for a new grad to not work in the hospital right away and how hard is it to get an "outside" job without any hospital experience? Would it harm my career to skip the hospital? These are silly questions-- I know nursing has so many opportunities outside of the hospital but I want to hear actual examples and any practical ways I can go about this. Every nurse I talk to is one thats always worked in the hospital, so I haven't gotten to hear anything else about what's out there. Thanks for listening!

~englishjeny

[Galore]

Have you pretty much been doing all adult med-surg clinicals so far? It seemed like that was the majority of our clinicals in school and there were quite a few students who didn't really enjoy that part. It wasn't until my last semester of nursing school when we started working in labor & delivery and pediatrics that I found something I really liked. Do you have a community health clinical? That sounds more like what you want to do. Maybe one of your nursing professors could give you some advice. I don't really believe you should be stuck doing something you hate for several years just because of the "everyone should start off in med-surg" school of thought.

[9A8K6F]

I have defiantly ran into the "med-surg or else..." way of thinking. I work in Med-surg now as a CNA and I don't buy it at all!!! I think people get pushed into it, don't like, then instead of finding a different area, quit nursing all together. I have heard this from many med/surg nurses that I respect a lot. I have this charge nurse that I talk to about my nursing queries- she had been a nurse for more than 20 years but still stays hip with new stuff. Her opinion on the "med/surg or else..." theory is that it is outdated. One of the pros of med-surg is you get an opertunity to pratice lots of basic nursing skills like putting in foley's, giving injections ect. that you might not do as much in a different speciality. You also see lot of common conditions like COPD, CHF ect. that you might not see in a specialty. This is not nearly as critical as it used to be because of the advent of nursing preceptor/internships, for new nurses as well as nurses going to a different speciality. If you want to work in a different speciality, you facility will train you there, so why do you need to learn about something in med-surg? Maybe you might have to do multiple preceptor/interships in your career- BIG DEAL!! At least in my hospital system, they pay you nursing wadges and benefits.

I think you should check out hospice nursing if you don't like the hospital. Hospice is a beautiful thing!! And, it not all sad, there are lots of opertunities to give TLC in a creative and intamate way that will leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling at the end of the day!

[MissBrahmsRN]

chill, it's okay. as someone said on another thread, "Nursing is multifaceted." my level 1 instructor hated hospital nursing. she did it for a year and nearly left the profession because of it. she took a job from her obstetrician's office because she was desperate for a change and it was near her home, and fell in love! she's now a MSN and certified women's health care nurse, couldn't be happier working in the doctor's office.

there is a nursing spot for nearly everyone. nursing school is all about adult med-surg and frankly, it stinks for many reasons, not the least of which is understaffing & overmedicating but we can all ride that soapbox later. i am a pediatric nurse and i'm frustrated cause i get one month, ONE MONTH of pediatric clinicals & theory. that's it!

hugs!

[cebe385RN]

.....

[jjjoy, LPN]

I don't have any easy answers for you. If nursing truly is as broad as many define it and ISN'T fundamentally based on bedside care, if nursing school ISN'T predominantly about preparing nurses to work in hospitals, then why does it seem that 80% of nursing school focuses on that? Why is that hospitals are more willing to hire new grads with no working experience than a nurse who has been away from the hospital for a few years? Why is that it seems that 80% of nursing jobs out there require at least a year or two of acute care experience?

There are certainly RNs working in various nursing jobs out there who never worked in acute care, but they truly are exceptions, as you're finding out. Some jobs touted as non-clinical options for nurses are not what I'd consider nursing. They are jobs that many nurses happen to have a good foundation for... such as case managers, insurance reviewers, coders, discharge planners, etc. They may involve aspects of nursing, but those aspects are not unique to nursing and people with other backgrounds also are hired into such positions (social workers, health information specialists, etc).

The background that nursing gives you is very valuable. If you don't practice nursing directly in a traditional setting, there ARE most certainly career options, but it's not a career path. You won't just be able to flip open a newspaper to the "Nurses wanted" section and be qualified to apply to most of the jobs.

Food for thought... not answers. Best wishes to you!!