Other Great Careers in Healthcare

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There was another thread that made me think of this...and for myself also. I am working in a hospital-and I work very closely with the nurses. I have been finding myself lately realizing that nursing is not exactly what I thought it was. I had not fluffed it by any means-but thinking about and actually being there in the flesh are two very different things! Anyways, I have found certain things that I like and/or tend to be good in...but when I think of healthcare, I always think "nursing" stuff.

So my question is...what other careers are out there in healthcare where you can still help people, but is not "direct" patient care?

Thanks!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Research is a field that prolongs lives without the direct patient care.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.

Yes there is another active thread on this. Just saw it yesterday I think.

Also do a search at this site. This was covered previously (last year?).

Good luck!

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Healthcare administration is a great career that is pretty far removed from Patient care. You'll be a shoe-in if you have some pt care experience, because most admin people do not and thus have some strange ideas (Like remember when they decided to cut nurses and suddenly patient outcomes went all crazy?) You definitely have the say on very inportant administration decisions- which then directly affect patient care. Things that administrators do - study staffing patterns, make and evaluate budgets, look at hospital bed patterns (more filling in the winter etc), look at certain antibiotic usage (Can we get the same results with a less expensive alternative- or- is the expensive drug pushed by the latest drug rep really worth it?)

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Specializes in DD.

How about public or community health? You still get to work with people, but it isn't really patient care. No life-or-death situations, for the most part. You usually work weekdays, regular hours. I am a family planning nurse for the local health dept. The pay is less than I was making at a hospital, but the stress level is also much less. Our health dept. also has nurses working in the WIC clinic, immunization clinics, maternal-child health, TB, STD, all sorts of different places. And seems everyone stays there for a long time.

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Specializes in OB, Telephone Triage, Chart Review/Code.

Also look into telephone triage. I can still use my nursing skills, but not in a physical manner.

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I think my problem is that I have been having to work on the med-surg floor (I am a float). That floor is so understaffed, the nurses are miserable and don't get along with each other & I even watched a nurse scream at her patient today because the patient had been waiting since 7:00 am for a flu shot so she could go home and at 12:30 asked the nurse when she could expect it-the nurse just ripped into her! I couldn't believe my ears!

I have noticed that nurses in other departments are happy. The ones in PM&R, cardiac cath lab, hospice.

But I am thinking of finishing my two year Health Service Management degree and then getting a bachelors in Gerontology. I am sure there are some options out there. Maybe get into LTC and help make better conditions...maybe work for the Office of the Aging...maybe I can get into some sort of elder social work. I don't know, but I am willing to try.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
... I even watched a nurse scream at her patient today because the patient had been waiting since 7:00 am for a flu shot so she could go home and at 12:30 asked the nurse when she could expect it-the nurse just ripped into her!...

Wow! Where's management on this? Unbelievable!

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Wow! Where's management on this? Unbelievable!

Nobody seems to get involved in anything that has do with something other than themselves. I felt so bad for the patient. What a great last impression as you leave!

These are all great ideas! I have so much to think about before the spring semester starts! Thanks everyone!

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.

Sounds like you have it so together... especially for your young age, "Faith."

All the best to ya!

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Specializes in floor to ICU.
How about public or community health? You still get to work with people, but it isn't really patient care. No life-or-death situations, for the most part. You usually work weekdays, regular hours. I am a family planning nurse for the local health dept. The pay is less than I was making at a hospital, but the stress level is also much less. Our health dept. also has nurses working in the WIC clinic, immunization clinics, maternal-child health, TB, STD, all sorts of different places. And seems everyone stays there for a long time.

I worked for TDH Immunization/Communicable Disease Program. Prior to that I was a WIC imm. nurse. I loved it, but the pay sucks. Great hours, holidays and you get weekends off. I wanted to go back to school, so I changed jobs (hospital) closer to home. I will always have a special place in my heart for public health.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Thanks for the suggestions........having just quit a great-paying med/surg job because of the physical and emotional stress, I'd almost rather work at Mickey D's than go through that sort of thing again.:stone

I know I'll probably never make that kind of money anywhere outside acute care, but at this point I'd take a solid $18-20 an hour if it meant I could provide for my physical needs when I have to, instead of the activity level on the floor dictating when I may eat and go to the bathroom, and if I could go home at the end of the day feeling like I've accomplished something, instead of being down to my very last nerve.:uhoh21:

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