Office vs hospital position

[gtoko]

Hello nurses,

If you had the choice beween a med-surg. position or an office position, which would you choose and why?

There is a significant difference in pay. However, the office position would be straight hours, no weekends, call or holidays.

Thanks in advance :)

[nicole109]

Is this your first position? If so--the experience you will get in med surg is invaluable and irreplaceable. And, if the office position is an open to close position like some of the hospital clinics around here (ie: there is only one shift, so you work the same shift every day all the time), then you will find yourself working late a lot if the doctor is behind on his appts...I know a lot of nurses who have taken positions thinking they were going to be working M-F 8-5 with a one hour lunch, and ended up working M-F 8-6 or 7 because the doctor couldn't get their act together during the day, or decided to overbook, etc.

[IowaBSN]

when i first graduated i really, really wanted an office job. i wanted the m-f 8-5 and i didn’t care about what people told me about getting “experience”. well lucky for me that didn't workout. i ended up taking a job in a hospital and learned so much more then i ever expected. i then moved, took another job in a hospital where i ended up working nights for a whole year! i hated it! i looked for other jobs every opportunity i could because i hated nights, i dreamed of an office job! but i stuck it out for about a year and eventually moved to days where i worked for a while. in the mean time i continued to increase my knowledge and improve my skills. started working on my masters degree (which has always been a goal of mine). i was able to prove my knowledge and skill and recently took a job as a nurse educator (which was my long term goal) and finally have my m-f 8-5! as much as i disliked the hours in the beginning it gave me the knowledge and experience i needed to get where i ultimately wanted to be. i guess you just need to ask yourself what it is you want in the long run for your career.

[emilyjoy]

I have the same question. When I get out of nursing school it would be nice to have regular hours, especially with family. Does anyone have regular hours and work in a hospital and NOT work weekends or holidays)?

[fungez]

It depends what your goals are. Office work is less money, but it's less stressful, more pleasant, better hours, and best of all, free pharm. lunches on a regular basis. Hospital works will drive you to drink and make you cry but you'll learn a lot, and there's (usually) more opportunity for advancement. Good luck to you.

[FlyingScot, RN]

It depends what your goals are. Office work is less money, but it's less stressful, more pleasant, better hours, and best of all, free pharm. lunches on a regular basis. Hospital works will drive you to drink and make you cry but you'll learn a lot, and there's (usually) more opportunity for advancement. Good luck to you.

I want to work in your office 'cause our clinic sure doesn't work that way.

[86toronado, BSN, RN]

i have the same question. when i get out of nursing school it would be nice to have regular hours, especially with family. does anyone have regular hours and work in a hospital and not work weekends or holidays)?

not usually. management generally, or possibly staff rn's with a lot of seniority, but for someone just out of school, that's probably not a possibility in the hospital setting. one exception might be or, but even then you have to be on call one weekend a month usually... sorry to bust your bubble!

[nurn69]

I would definitely advise starting with the med/surg to gain valuable experience. I have been an RN for several years and never worked in the hospital setting nor never wanted to. I always worked in doctors offices which I did enjoy very much but, now I have moved to CA and I have discovered there are virtually NO doctors offices that hire RN's. They prefer the less expensive medical assistants for office jobs. Now I am trying desperately to find employment anywhere. Hospitals of course want previous hospital experience I guess with the economy the way it is they find it too expensive to train. I say take the hospital experience if you have found someplace to train you it may save you down the road!

[rn4ever?]

If this is your first RN job, I'd say go to the hospital and be trained. If not, you can do the office work. It might be less stressful compared to the med-surg floor but it could also give you a lesser pay. If you don't mind, then that should be fine.