PHN environment?

Hi Tag2007. I work both in office and in home visits. I work in a county home visiting program. So, I work alone in home visits but can collaborate with other nurses back at the office. I love my job! Good luck in your search.

Very cool Sunmoon. I like the idea if having some independence but not ring completely alone. I'm glad you really enjoy your job! It's encouraging to hear stories of nurses who enjoy their position. :)

I think your psych background will be really helpful in public health. I currently work at a non profit clinic which provides general medicine, HIV, Hep C care. We also have behavioral health with psychiatry and even dentistry. The environment can be really chill and awesome since we do not have too strict rules-uniforms/shoes, we can have piercings and tattoos but not excessive, and we have jeans day. Most of the people I work with are working here because what we do is awesome-we help the uninsured (yep, still out there) and the underinsured. The down side is not having things organized-which is really hard for me-I LOVE organization. We also are a learning facility which is really fun as well. Public health is what I love and I strongly recommend getting a tour of what the clinic/agency you are interviewing for. I volunteered at my clinic when I applied-so I knew what I was getting into

Thanks for the response Lacey! Your position sounds really great and exactly like something I would like to do! I currently applied for a HIV/aids nursing/case management PHN position which I really think I would enjoy doing as it involves alot of teaching. I'm hoping the employers notice my Psych background and see it as a plus too! I just hope only having worked at a state psych facility for 8 months doesn't look bad. It was mostly forensic and I resigned because it was hard being around violent people everyday. This PHN job is only one job I saw posted in my area that didnt require a Bachelors and was within a close enough distance. Hearing stories like yours just makes me want to get into PHN that much more. :)

I work in an OB/gyn clinic. We are also a Title X clinic, so we provide free birth control/BC education, STI education/testing/treatment and pregnancy counseling to low income women and teens. I am the only RN in the clinic - I work along side nurse-midwives, assorted OBs (there's only one that works one day a week, but there are a few that rotate through) and MAs. I do all the phone and walk-in triage, handle dealing with lab results, handle the day-to-day operations of the clinic, put out fires, am the go-to person when a CNM or MA has a strange question they don't know the answer to, shuffle schedules around (because our call center has a lot of turnover, they don't always have the appropriate training or fill our appointments appropriately, so I look through all the providers' schedules each day to make sure everyone is appointed appropriately), plus I have my own patient load of new obstetric patients (I do their intake appointment, collect their history, get their labs done, and do a bunch of patient teaching) as well as birth control consults/refills, pregnancy testing/counseling, and uncomplicated gyn UTIs.

I love my job and the wide variety of things I see and do.

Sounds very interesting Klone! You sure do get to see and do alot it seems. How much experience did you position require of you or did you need any training one you were hired? I'm especially curious since you are the only RN in the clinic.

I have worked in a variety of PH settings. I did home visits for high risk maternal/child health pts and for the last 10 years work in a family planning clinic and now as a nurse supervisor after I received my MSN. The best part of PHN is the autonomy -you mostly work independently. It's one of the RN specialties that you truly can make a difference in someone's life.

Sounds very interesting Klone! You sure do get to see and do alot it seems. How much experience did you position require of you or did you need any training one you were hired? I'm especially curious since you are the only RN in the clinic.

I had an extensive background in maternal/child health, which wasn't REQUIRED for the job, but was certainly an asset. But outpatient OB, as well as all the Gyn stuff we do, was new to me, so there was a lot of learning on the job as I went along.