General nursing question?

[setarahxm]

Hi,

I am looking to become a Nurse and I had a question about the field. I want to work in a physician's office but I'm not sure about the salary. I live in NY. What kind of numbers can you expect to make in an office? Checked on Google, but it mainly focuses on hospital nurses. What is the starting salary for an office nurse? If you can, share your experiences and any other comments that you feel would help me.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Knock a few dollars off the salary at a hospital and you're probably close. Clinics simply do not pay as well as hospitals, but there are generally other perks to make up for that- no weekends, no holidays, and all day shift

[Sour Lemon]

I'd say knock off more than a few dollars ...especially as a new graduate. Are you sure you want to be a nurse and not a medical assistant? MAs are much more common in doctor's offices, although they frequently refer to themselves as "nurses". As for actual nurses, LPN verses RN makes for quite the difference in pay, too.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

To further rain on your parade, I know that in my area that new grads are not hired in physicians' offices. The physicians tend to prefer nurses who have experience. (For example, all of the nurses in my OB/GYN's office were L&D nurses).

[setarahxm]

I don't mean to sound ignorant, but if I wanted to work in a family practice office, which unit of the hospital should I work in?

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Have you been accepted to nursing school?

[setarahxm]

No, not yet.

[Sour Lemon]

I don't mean to sound ignorant, but if I wanted to work in a family practice office, which unit of the hospital should I work in?

Hospital nursing is pretty different from office nursing. What sorts of tasks do you envision yourself doing? What's drawing you to "nursing" to start out with? Where are you in the educational process?

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

When I worked in the hospital, clinic nurses made about 20% less than the floor nurses and, at a private doctor's office, they would generally make even less than a clinic within a hospital. A primary care office job would probably be a $10-$15/hr pay cut for me.

[HalfBoiled, BSN, RN]

You would need to build experience prior to working family medicine.

Consider bedside nursing for 1-2 years.