Out of all the nursing specialties, which ones would be the least amount of stress?

[AliDrewThis]

Hello, I am just wondering from your experiences which nursing specialties are the least stressful? Especially for a mother who prefers the usual Monday-Friday 9-5 shifts

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I have done med-surg, NICU, PICU, adult ICU, ED, house supervisor, home care, geri-psych, acute psych and LTC in the past 35 years.

All have stress and none have the 9-to-5 hours you are looking for. I am curious as to why you would become a nurse if you were wanting a 9-to-5 schedule? (No snark intended, I have never understood this.)

[loriangel14, RN]

If you want regular hours and low stress then you don't want to be a nurse.

[evmarie]

You could always be a nurse in a family doctors office! Fairly low stress and coincides with the hours your looking for.

[zahryia, LPN]

If you want regular hours and low stress then you don't want to be a nurse.

That is false. There's case management, quality improvement,OR, ambulatory, school nursing and some hospitals offer 8 hours shifts in several units.

[dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN]

I started out in pediatric private duty and had my choice of cases and work hours (anywhere from 4s to 12s) after a few bumpy months of learning which cases I didn't want to take. Fairly low stress once I found my groove.

Psych inpatient hires new grads and is mostly 8s in my area. Don't know how low-stress it is -- probably depends on the day and phase of the moon.

Your typical nursing office job - low stress, good hours - usually requires experience and even then can be difficult to transition in to because you're fighting other burnt-out RNs with more experience than you who want to leave the bedside.

You do hear about the occasional new-grad who falls into a cushy non-traditional nursing position. It certainly can happen. I know of several new-grads who went straight into school nursing but they were bilingual and going into low income, rough school districts. I have a peer whose friend was hired right out of school to do demos through Cerner.

[westieluv]

Being an RN in a doctor's office can be very stressful, the pay is considerably lower than in other areas of nursing, and there is no 9-5, you stay until the last patient leaves in the evening and many offices are now offering evening hours to accommodate their patients' work schedules. Also, most offices are going to hiring LPNs and MAs instead of RNs to cut expenses. There's not much autonomy because the doctor(s) are there when you are, so RNs aren't necessarily required in the office setting.

Different strokes for different folks, but I think the best thing about the nursing profession for a mother is the fact that you can work such varied hours and don't have to do the M-F, 9-5 grind. That was one of the things I took into consideration when choosing a profession. When our kids were little, I would work a couple of night shifts a week opposite of my husband's schedule so that he was home with them at night, and I was able to spend my days with my kids and we never once had to use substitute child care. It was awesome, almost like being a stay at home mom, and not something that a M-F, 9-5 mom gets to do.

[loriangel14, RN]

That is false. There's case management, quality improvement,OR, ambulatory, school nursing and some hospitals offer 8 hours shifts in several units.

For most of those you need a ton of experience first. A new grad wouldn't get into case management. 8 hour shifts don't mesan that you will work 9-5. I work 8s and I work days, eves and nights, sometimes all within one week.

[HM-8404, BSN, RN]

A friend was hired straight out of nursing school into a one day surgical office. She works Mon-Fri.

[zahryia, LPN]

For most of those you need a ton of experience first. A new grad wouldn't get into case management. 8 hour shifts don't mesan that you will work 9-5. I work 8s and I work days, eves and nights, sometimes all within one week.

I know a new grad that got straight into case management and quite a few that went into the OR.

So while it's not common, it's not impossible.

[dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN]

I know a new grad that got straight into case management and quite a few that went into the OR.

So while it's not common, it's not impossible.

I don't know any OR RNs who work 8s! PACU maybe.

[NP Sam]

I work 8s in the OR.