New Grad Leaving Hospital for Office Job

[IcySageNurse]

Hello everyone,Just need some advice on leaving a hospital job for office work. I just graduated a few months ago, and took a job in a hospital. At first I absolutely loved it, but now I hate it and no longer want to work in a hospital. I find the work demeaning and labor intensive - boosting, cleaning excrement, etc. My ultimate goal is to be an FNP, so I don't plan to be a RN for long before I go back to school. My concerns whether office work in a primary care clinic is good enough training to be an FNP? I feel like skill wise, I'll be doing less, but I will get to see more and work closely with other FNPs. I have been offered a job in a primary care office, and I need advice if I should do this or not.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Listen everyone,I do not mean to come across as elitist toward my patients or other nurses. Quite the contrary, I entered nursing to care for people. As a nurse, I have had my fair share of "nastiness" working on a med surg floor. While it did gross me out, each and every time, I did what I needed to do to help the patient. Did I enjoy it? Not one bit. But I would NEVER leave a patient to sit in anything - I kept my patients completely clean and did what I needed to do and made sure no one ever felt bad about it. Now, despite that, I am simply saying that I do not enjoy doing this, and I find in med surg I am doing this at least once per day. I want to leave that and go to an office position where I can help people and learn what I need to go into primary care without feeling nauseous all the time. I simply want to know if working in an office will still prepare me to be an FNP?As for the demeaning comment - I suppose I feel that as nurses have 4year college degrees, we shouldn't be doing something so nasty. I our society, more education typically means doing less labor and using your brain more. I feel that nurses should do procedures, assess patients, etc, but I believe that techs and CNAs should clean patients when they make a mess, poop, etc. you guys can attack me for this all you want, but I think nurses work harder than another person on a unit and some of the things we do that are mainly labor intensive (lifting patients, cleaning patients) should go to those that don't have the same level of education as nurses.

Wow......I'm sorry.... I am seldom speechless......I am sorry your were mislead into thinking that nursing didn't have a gritty dirty side......but I have done all of those things......using my brain, doing procedures, assess patients, and wiped more than my fair share of behinds........but I have never begrudged the "dirty jobs" nor have I EVER felt I was above them. I might have not enjoyed it but I never felt my college education made me too superior to perform them. I have had an exemplary career that I am VERY proud of.......

I wish you the best.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

My comments . .

Listen everyone, I do not mean to come across as elitist toward my patients or other nurses.

Really??

Quite the contrary, I entered nursing to care for people.

But only clean, neat and highly appreciative people, right?

I simply want to know if working in an office will still prepare me to be an FNP?

Nope - However, check program admission requirements since your mileage may vary.

I suppose I feel that as nurses have 4 year college degrees, we shouldn't be doing something so nasty.

PP's (including me) feel that calling any aspect of patient care "nasty" is, in itself, offensive.

I think nurses work harder than any other person on a unit and some of the things we do that are mainly labor intensive (lifting patients, cleaning patients) should go to those that don't have the same level of education as nurses.

I'll bet you're very popular with all those 'lesser beings' that are lucky enough to work with such a 'highly educated' person.

I realize that I'm being an old grouch, but as an extremely tenured crusty old bat (who has been on the receiving end of the patient care experience lately) I feel confident about advising you to take that office job ASAP.

[procrastinator911, BSN, RN]

It seems like everyone is just saying get ur experience first. Why not switch to acute care or an outpatient clinic? And all the questions u have perhaps address them to APN section on here. You might get the response u are looking for. BEST OF LUCK!!!!

[Barnstormin' PMHNP]

If you know what school you want to attend for your NP I would contact them and see what the requirements are for acceptance. I know that the clinical portion of it may be affected because the NP preceptors tend to only accept students with applicable experience. If your office job will allow you a lot of autonomy and assissting it might work out for you. I would also look at job postings in your area for NP's and maybe call them just to see what you can find out about their take on it. Does it matter to a hospital or clinic looking to hire an NP or just how much poop you've cleaned, or is the fact that you have achieved a higher level of training and have the degree to show it carry more weight? When people say you get a good look at the disease process I have to wonder, I'm in icu and I only see the end of the process so I never get to be involved in prevention or the beginning process, whereas in the clinic you are in the primary and secondary stages. Why is that clinic education not considered valuable? Isn't an important part of nursing about teaching and prevention? BTW, I have not had any NP's volunteer to clean up a patient, they let me know so I can do it lol.

It's actually a pretty interesting question I think, it's too bad people got so defensive and you were flamed by so many posters.................:poop: I guess poop is a pretty highly charged subject.

[Wrench Party]

Dang folks....it's just poop. I clean up after my animals and wipe my friends' babies' butts all the time, what's the difference if it

comes out of an adult human? At the end of the day, even Bill Gates and the President take :poop:s.

[RunninOnCoffee]

My advice would be to actually move more towards the critical care area. HOWEVER there are no techs and you would be doing more hands on there but the experience especially in the assessment area would be invaluable to you. Working in an office I don't feel you would gain the skills needed for a nurse practioner. Personally I want the NP who has worked on the floor for years in addition to having the book smarts. You can have the book smarts and knowledge all you want, but if you haven't learned how to apply them it does no good. You have to develop that spidey sense of when something is about to go really really wrong. Several NP's I see actually go round the MD's in the hospital before clinic hours or afterwards. You need to be able to assess those critical pt's. You need to be able to confidently assist with the procedures he/she will need to you to preform in that setting. You need to be able to assess when that pt doesn't look quite right even though all of their VS say otherwise. Mostly in the clinic setting you to hand out an script and send them on their way, but if you don't have that sense to know when something is other that you may send someone on their way that really needs to go to the hospital instead. And as a side note, I would rather have a NP with floor experience and an ICU backround than a PA any day. And that bath is a great way to do a FULL skin assessment rather than a quick turn. I found stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in a pt by just giving her a bath first thing that morning when the tech was busy.

[KSGMaine, ASN]

I was a new grad in 2011 landed that hospital job on a busy neuro/trauma unit, was quite overwhelmed, shifts where I would cry, didn't feel like I knew what I was doing and after only 4 months I left for a job in a speciality practice, because I said the same thing, floor nursing just isn't for me, I hate it! My nurse manager and director said "your doing yourself a dis-service, you need to give it and yourself a chance" Hey, I figured I'm 40+ years old, I know what I want, I don't need to be miserable, etc. so I left. 7 months later, I feel like I did do myself a disservice by not giving myself a chance, at least to stick it out that 1st year, I feel I would have gained valuable experience to put it all together, if you know what I mean, experience that I am not gaining in a speciality office. Now working in a primary care office, you will see a lot more, but I can tell you there will be tons of calls, parents and families to deal with, filling prescriptions, setting appointments, etc.

While I know it don't care for floor nursing, I also know I probably should have stuck it for a little a while. Think long and hard about it, see if you can't shadow for a day to see what it's really like, talk to a trusted friend, talk to other NP's to get their perspective, maybe they wish they had been a floor nurse, etc.

Good luck with whatever you decide, only you know what is best for you.

[suziq842]

BAHAhahahahahaha!!!! Are you serious?? LOL... being a nurse is a thankless job but it is very educational with us seeing much more than the doctors do because we are in the field. Good luck with the rest of your schooling!

[netglow, ASN, RN]

The only thing to consider is where you want to finally practice as an FNP. If its office or clinic that is where you need to be. Floor nursing doesn't give you any experience these days except, well, there just isn't much. You won't participate in any kind of dx as an RN on the floor, you won't have time to ponder much of anything really. Years go by and maybe you are better and faster at charting and tossing med/vomit/poop (in or out) and ignoring irritating coworkers so you can go home on time - golf clap.

Hospital nursing has nothing to do with clinic or office nursing. In office nursing these days, a nurse is not often hired unless the MD wants another brain. Tasks are for MAs. It's big on the cognitive, whereas hospital nursing has turned to being big on the waitress/housekeeping duties. Too bad, but why do you think most will leave if he economy gets better? Better to use your brain while you still remember your patho and drugs.

Go to private practice and make the most of it.

I'll add that most networks are not looking to expand anything "hospital" but they are looking to expand in practices and clinics - they need a nurse who is not a task monkey, they need a thinker. Lots of nurses won't be able to handle this. They can no longer think or communicate or collaborate simply because they were in the hospital too long - to hard to erase the damage.

[lemmyg]

I am still new at it but I love nursing because of our intimate role with patients (no not the poop especialy haha). We get to be the eyes and the ears and even the noses. Doctors have their fancy diagnostics and 5 minutes with the patient but we are the ones that spend time and find out histories. Some of the best assessments are done while bathing patients. i would not want any CNA to take away this opportunity. NPs are still nurses, they practice a more advanced form of nursing with more responsibilties but it is still nursing, not medicine

[IcySageNurse]

The only thing to consider is where you want to finally practice as an FNP. If its office or clinic that is where you need to be. Floor nursing doesn't give you any experience these days except, well, there just isn't much. You won't participate in any kind of dx as an RN on the floor, you won't have time to ponder much of anything really. Years go by and maybe you are better and faster at charting and tossing med/vomit/poop (in or out) and ignoring irritating coworkers so you can go home on time - golf clap.Hospital nursing has nothing to do with clinic or office nursing. In office nursing these days, a nurse is not often hired unless the MD wants another brain. Tasks are for MAs. It's big on the cognitive, whereas hospital nursing has turned to being big on the waitress/housekeeping duties. Too bad, but why do you think most will leave if he economy gets better? Better to use your brain while you still remember your patho and drugs.Go to private practice and make the most of it.I'll add that most networks are not looking to expand anything "hospital" but they are looking to expand in practices and clinics - they need a nurse who is not a task monkey, they need a thinker. Lots of nurses won't be able to handle this. They can no longer think or communicate or collaborate simply because they were in the hospital too long - to hard to erase the damage.

Thank all of you latest posters - I was starting to think all nurses were this crabby! And I agree with the quoted above...as a floor nurse, I feel I do learn more nursing skills...but these are skills I would rarely use as a provider. In an office, wouldn't I be doing a lot more thinking in terms of triaging and seeing patients, etc. in a hospital you don't seem to do as much critical thinking, ICU aside.

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

I'm glad you're finally getting the answers you wanted.