Nurses That Never Worked In A Hospital...

[guest1143647]

Do you find that patients assume you are inexperienced or unskilled as opposed to nurses that have worked in a hospital?

Do you feel "less than" a nurse that has worked in a hospital, or do you feel you missed out on something pertinent?

[LibraNurse27, BSN, RN]

13 hours ago, Daisy4RN said:

OP, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, magical about working in a hospital, the only way it will benefit you is IF you need the experience for a specific job you have in mind. Good luck!

Agreed! Unless there is some new definition of magical that means exhausting, disheartening and frustrating 

Or, hospitals can magically make every day the worst day of your life ? OK that was a little over the top. You really can learn a lot in acute care, and some people truly enjoy it and do it for their entire career, but I think that is rare. Don't do it for the "magic" or "glamor" or you will be very disappointed. For some reason I didn't feel glamorous while giving lactulose enemas even if the sign above the door said Crtical Care Unit!

[nursel56]

On 5/3/2021 at 8:10 AM, Elektra6 said:

I never worked in a hospital. I started out as an LPN and no hospital would hire me. After I got my RN I never got a hospital job. I DO feel like I missed out. I wish I would have have applied after I got my RN. Now I feel I’m too old to try ?

I worked in a hospital for a few years, then I worked in outpatient clinics and a few doctor's offices.  I didn't miss the hospital as it really was, because most of the time I was too swamped to be the bedside nurse I envisioned before I ever worked for one day as a nurse.

I took a break from nursing, when I returned I almost got hired by a hospital, but ended up doing private duty on vent-dependent patients, and I found that to be a great balance, and provided enough challenge.  

Just passing that along. I can relate to how you feel.

[nursel56]

On 5/2/2021 at 3:48 AM, Runsoncoffee99 said:

Do you find that patients assume you are inexperienced or unskilled as opposed to nurses that have worked in a hospital?

Do you feel "less than" a nurse that has worked in a hospital,or do you feel you missed out on something pertinent?

The only people I've encountered who assume things like that are other nurses who haven't been nurses for very long, or nurses who are very insecure.

In the rare instance when a patient knows my job history, it's of passing interest. They generally judge by how well you meet their expectations.

Another thing to consider is, just about everyone who has spent time in the hospital has, or knows someone who has a hospital-nurse-from-hell story, in which a good nurse may appear to be a bad nurse from their perspective because the unit is chronically understaffed.

[TriciaJ, RN]

2 hours ago, LibraNurse27 said:

Agreed! Unless there is some new definition of magical that means exhausting, disheartening and frustrating 

Or, hospitals can magically make every day the worst day of your life 

I've certainly had some magical jobs.  And not just in hospitals.

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

On 5/4/2021 at 1:26 AM, LibraNurse27 said:

Outside of nursing people don't really care what kind of nurse you are or judge you about it. Within the nursing community I think there is sometimes a glamorization of critical care/ER/trauma. I totally glamorize flight nurses. I'm sorry but if you can take care of critical pts alone in a helicopter while looking amazing in your cool jumpsuit, I give it up to you!

I've never had pts care where I work. In the community clinic some pts didn't know the difference between a hospital and a clinic (which was bad when they needed to go to ER but came to us instead!) Same in the outpatient PACU where I work now, half the pts call their ride to pick them up from the "hospital." I did get a lot of praise and attention when I worked on a covid floor. And some people seem more interested in hearing your "nurse stories" when you work inpatient, but all nurses have stories! If you work with people, you have stories. Anyway, don't pick your job based on what other people think of it. All nurses are valuable. 

This, 100%. Maybe my nursing school classmates look down on me for working in a clinic (although I don’t think they do), but I KNOW nobody else in the world cares. At my church, for example, people say “She’s a nurse, lets ask her about Covid” or whatever. Nobody says “Well she doesn’t work in a hospital so she doesn’t know.”  A nurse is a nurse. 

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

I was in total shock after the hospital closed all nursing education positions and I was out of my critical care clin spec job. I’d been an ICU nurse for 20 years and it was my whole professional identity. 
I took a job doing work comp case management, about which I knew precisely nothing, as what I thought would be a temporary thing to keep food on the table until I could get back to my real life. To my vast astonishment I found I loved the autonomy, learning new things, having no limits on my time, and a damn good salary and benefits program that included performance bonuses. Never had a nursing job like this, I marveled.

This led to a whole different perspective on what I could do c my nursing education and experience, and now, years later, I’m looking at happily retiring from a great secondary career in case management/life care planning/legal nurse consulting. 

Anyone who’s unhappy c hospitals, NETY, whines about toxicity, and all that other crap should know that there’s a big, big world of options out there you can use to leverage other ways of being a nurse. Stop complaining and get yourself the heck out here. We are having a ball. 

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

I worked in the hospitals for the first 15ish years of my career. I don't wish to ever return to that arena ever again. I don't miss a thing about it

[guest1163268]

It's what I like about AN, I never even knew that this was a thing. I've worked both in and out of hospitals and I have never heard anyone mention anything remotely about this subject. Staggering the things that exist? 

I wonder if I mentioned this to some people what kind of responses will I get? 

 

[Ioreth, BSN, RN]

Myth #1 Glamorous nursing jobs exist.

Nope. Not a one. Hospital nursing really bites a good deal of the time. We are told to do the impossible and get chewed out if we miss our lunch break or stay late to chart. We're also chewed out if we don't achieve the impossible because we took that lunch break or clocked out on time. No glory here. Just poop.

 

I really respect school nurses with all the social potholes they have to navigate. Heck any nurse that deals with child patients has my ultimate respect, because I think I'd be in trouble pretty fast when I see parents do things that I *know* is morally wrong, but not technically illegal. When you called me to tell me my kid broke his arm at school (true story), you managed to not freak me out because that's MY baby.

I respect long term care/rehab nurses with their insane patient loads and limited resources as they are also asked to achieve what cannot be done in the hospital. I hear your exhaustion when I give you report on my post-surgical patient. You take my patients who are unable to move across a room without falling and make them safe to return to their highest level of independence. That is a gift I can't give my patients.

I respect home health nurses going into people's private homes where the support is a phone call and often over 30 minutes away and all the supplies are what you brought in with your car. I dipped my toes in your shoes caring for my grandparents while they were in hospice, and I admire your ability to solve problems with only what you have.

I respect corrections nurses. So many of your patients have under-treated conditions due to the nature of their incarceration. When your patients come to me in the hospital setting, I'm generally in awe that you have kept them in as good condition as they are, when they often don't respect their own bodies.

I respect all the other nurses that I interact with and all those who I am unaware that I interact with. Please don't think less of yourselves for any reason. You are ALL valuable, and I cannot do my job without you. 

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

There are those who thought my job was relatively glamorous, because I did a lot of traveling (on the client’s nickel) to cool places to see patients, and as a result I could also afford travel and nice things for myself and family. Our annual conferences were in nice places like Dublin, Nashville, Clearwater, Albuquerque, Portland, Boston... every year I went to at least two. 
I share loreth’s admiration for the specialty practices she mentions. There are more that she’s not aware of. 

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

9 hours ago, Ioreth said:

Myth #1 Glamorous nursing jobs exist.
I really respect school nurses with all the social potholes they have to navigate. Heck any nurse that deals with child patients has my ultimate respect, because I think I'd be in trouble pretty fast when I see parents do things that I *know* is morally wrong, but not technically illegal. When you called me to tell me my kid broke his arm at school (true story), you managed to not freak me out because that's MY baby.

Awe, thx for the kind words! I think we all could try and respect other disciplines just a little bit more!

[Davey Do]

6 hours ago, Ioreth said:

Myth #1 Glamorous nursing jobs exist.

Nope. Not a one.

Being flown to seminars, use of the company car, my own office with a view, and traveling the state once a month to supervise cases seemed pretty glamorous to me in 1993 as an HH NS.