most satisfying nurse or NP job

elkpark · Mar 25, 2016

"Job satisfaction" is a v. personal matter. I might hate doing what you really enjoy, and vice versa. None of us can really advise you about "job satisfaction." It also can depend on the employer. You can be miserable doing something you usually really enjoy if you are working for a crummy employer.

PG2018 · Mar 25, 2016

I am really satisfied with my job. I sit at a desk and have patients come see me in my office, evaluate them, and send them on their way with either a prescription, a lab order, an order to keep seeing their therapist, or sometimes a referral. Beyond addressing the pathophysiology of mental illness, I don't really do anything "medical." I love it. When I have no shows I'm either reading my Kindle, buried deep in a professional journal, or strolling around the office building. I pick my schedule, don't do anything that it doesn't take my "cognitive abilities" to do, and I make a great living. It's similar to having an executive position, which I always wanted, but it involves a topic of interest (psychiatry) rather than sales, etc. In fact, I'm off today with my family, sitting in the recliner, our "nanny" made us breakfast, and our cleaning service is at work. On days like this, it makes me feel a bit luxurious. Compare this to many years ago, me receiving my first BS degree and finding a job in a patrol car fighting (literally) crackheads while clad in polyester and related accoutrements working in the cold rain. I wish my father had lived to see this because as a high school dropout who delivered laundry he always wanted me to achieve what he himself wanted to do.

Regarding, what I do at work. I find that, in my limited experience, I work with a great deal of efficacy. I'm presently assigned to >2,000 pts, of which I probably see c. 8-900 as a solo provider, and I can think of about ten of them that are a challenge with only two of them leaving me continuously perplexed. The patients are reasonably well controlled, very few of them have returned to a hospital, and I can think of handfuls of success stories who have been treated by a generation of providers without feeling better until seeing me.

I love this.

You, on the other hand, might find a septic, comatose, renal failure, patient with an array of pressors satisfying. I can't do anything in a critical care setting besides trip over wires and stand on oxygen tubing.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2016

You, on the other hand, might find a septic, comatose, renal failure, patient with an array of pressors satisfying. I can't do anything in a critical care setting besides trip over wires and stand on oxygen tubing.

I concur. Job satisfaction entails different strokes for different folks.

Personally, I dislike direct patient care that involves procedural skills and high acuity. I'd rather deal with the paperwork and computer aspect of healthcare. I work as an RN case manager for an insurance company and feel a sense of job satisfaction for the first time in many years.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Apr 1, 2016

Easiest to get a job and most satisfying tend to me mutually exclusive terms. If you've studied even the rudiments of economics (and I hope you have) review the Law of Supply and Demand. I is applicable to the world of nursing.

AspiringNurseMW · Apr 1, 2016

I am looking to become a nurse and ideally an NP I was wondering what seems to be the most satisfying job as well as in demand. I live in CO and you aren't required to have experience before going to NP school. I'm just wondering what specialty will be easiest to get a job right out of school and have job satisfaction.

That depends. The job that in demand in your area you might hate. What if there is a large geriatric population and the job to get is geriatric NP? Besides, job demand is local and fluctuates.

I plan to go to school to be a WHNP/CNM. Is there a huge job demand where I am. Nope. But there aren't more than a handful of midwives in the area. So I'm sure with a little bit of work and networking I can find or create a position. But CNM I'd what I want to be, it's what would satisfy me, but I'm also willing to move if that's what it takes to get a job.

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Apr 2, 2016

I'm biased as a NICU nurse, but I think I once read that NICU has the highest nurse satisfaction rate of the ICU specialties. In NICU, we don't see two of the main causes of nursing burnout (very often): feeling underappreciated, and feeling like you're slapping a bandaid on a larger problem without really fixing it. About 90% of the time, parents are very vocal about how much they appreciate our care of their babies, and we get to watch 90% of our kids go from being super-sick to being perfectly healthy and carried out the door. Very rewarding and satisfying. As a note, NICU jobs are generally hard to get right out of school because so many people want them (although it is possible, I got one by applying to 20+ new grad NICU jobs).

(There are also Neonatal NPs. While I deeply respect them, I would not recommend becoming one--it is such a small niche that your work conditions are completely at the mercy of the few neonatology practices in your town, and you have no alternative form of employment if you feel like you're being exploited.)

I honestly think that the most important factor in employee satisfaction is workplace culture, regardless of profession. You may have your 'dream job,' but if your coworkers and boss make you hate your life, then you're probably going to hate your job. During interviews, make sure you ask questions about workplace culture!! I literally once had a NICU nurse manager say during an interview that her unit's weakness was "a lot of cattiness and drama between the nurses." Sorry, ba-bye .

SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS · Apr 2, 2016

In demand? Psych-Mental Health NP by a landslide.

Satisfying? Nursing instructor for an ADN program. And complex case manager for "non-compliant diabetics" (also known as "people with diabetes, multiple comorbidities, and barriers to self-care").

As above posters stated, YMMV.