Urgent Care RN

Kay Bunny · May 8

I mean work at urgent care for 1 year as an RN.

once I graduate FNP school in 6 months, I'm going to try and wait for a residency program which will be about another 6-8months after that. So I would still have 12-18month left to still work as an RN.

CookieRoo9413, ASN, RN · May 10

Hi Kay Bunny! I work as an RN in urgent care, and my only experience prior was home health, so no acute care experience was needed. I think it would be a great job for you as you work towards becoming an FNP! You will learn a lot that will be relevant to your future role and will work alongside providers treating common conditions.

I can't say I do a ton of skills in urgent care though. We administer meds (IM, subq injections, PPD placements, PO meds, neb treatments, etc). We do IV fluids but not often so even though I know how to start an IV, I don't do it a lot so I can't say I'm really good at them (kind of hit or miss honestly). Lab techs do most of the blood draws, but we will help out with this from time to time. We handle phone calls and give people their Lab and x-ray results, so there is a lot to learn in that respect.

It is a busy job, lots of people in and out all day so there is no time to get to know anyone. Most people are there for routine illnesses, like colds, the flu, sinus infections, UTIs, strep throat, etc or injuries, broken bones or minor lacerations. Anything more serious gets sent to the ER. We do get emergencies and call 911 on a semi regular basis. All nurses need to be ACLS and PALS certified, though this was not required prior to hire. My company had me take the class through them to get certified. We have a crash cart but do not use it often (and codes can and do happen, though rarely).

All in all, I think it would be beneficial for you to try to get a job in urgent care. Maybe you could even work there as an FNP. It's definitely a tough job for providers though (long hours, having to assess and treat multiple people quickly, lots of liability).

Best of luck to you! Let me know if you have any other questions. :)

EmergentAnesthetics · May 24

I worked in an Urgent Care after getting comfortable in the ED...I lasted about 6 months because I got bored. I worked 7:45a - 8:15p unless we had last minute stragglers. I was responsible for triaging/intake assessment, medication administration (PO, IM, SQ, ID, and IV), venipuncture, processing of said specimen for shipment, neb treatments, following-up with lab results, and answering questions from previous patients, checking emails and triaging them as necessary. I was also the first point of contact should 911 is needed due to patient checking in with stroke like symptoms, MI/new onset arrhythmias, compromised airway etc. It was high volume and low acuity which are means to burnout, especially when one is still in the ED fulltime. There were no clear cut differences between me (RN) and the LPN or MA scope of practice.

No acute care experience required but it does help. A year of prior experience is definitely helpful because you have experience working with patients, providers, various pathophysiology and some pharmacology exposure. You'll be fine.