Walk in clinic nursing

[Frank Gallagher]

Hi everyone,

I am a surgical nurse that is interested in working in a walk in clinic because of the 9-5 hours, holidays off and location (There's young children in my family, childcare is scarce and the clinic is 5 minutes from my house). I have been nursing for 5 years and feel like I am competent in a hospital setting. My question is this. If I wanted to pursue clinic nursing, what kind of nursing skills would I need? How do you think I can translate my surgical experience into clinic nursing? If you are a manager at a clinic, what kind of nurses are you looking for?

I want to build my skills to fit into clinic nursing and wow them in the interview. Thanks so much for any advice you can give!!

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

Go find the Ambulatory Care professional website. They certify nurses to be ambulatory care professionals (I forget the acronym) but I bet a lot of the answers you're looking for are there.

Essentially in ambulatory care, you have to be an excellent historian. You're now very proficient at taking vitals but do you take routine histories prior to the surgery? There is a substantial customer service component to urgent care (especially free-standing, pay out of pocket locations) of which you'll need to be aware. You probably have resuscitative skills that are top-notch. You're probably good at following protocol. Those are positive things. Good luck!

[Frank Gallagher]

Thank you! That was very helpful.