Where can a new grad nurse work outside of the hospital?

[Dreaming2]

I am about to graduate with my BSN and I really, really don't want to work in a hospital. I've done some research, but I haven't really found alternatives for new grads. Does anyone have experience with this or suggestions?

[AlaBro2010]

Health department, doctors office, dialysis clinic, home health, etc. I work at the health department. I LOVE it!

[Dreaming2]

Did you start there as a new nurse? What kinds of things does a health department nurse do?

[AlaBro2010]

Did you start there as a new nurse? What kinds of things does a health department nurse do?

I did! We do a lot. I can do a lot of my own from "standing orders", like if someone needs a medication I can give it to the patient without doc even seeing them or if the patient has an issue I can refer to the doc. We do family planning, prenatal care/women's preventive care (paps, etc), immunizations, child health, very limited adult primary care, STD testing, community outreach programs, WIC. There's also school health and things like that but I do not get involved with that. We do our own phlebotomy and we also assist the docs in procedures. I can't think of anything else, I'm sure there is but that's about a lot of it.

[loriangel14, RN]

LTC, home health,doctor's offices, clinics. A friend of mine worked in factory in employee health and another worked ina mental health facility.

[lovinmymac]

You say you did pap tests? Does the RN do this or the Nurse Practitioner? I am confused. I was never taught that in school. What exactly does a RN do in the Health Department as an entry level nurse?

[AlaBro2010]

You say you did pap tests? Does the RN do this or the Nurse Practitioner? I am confused. I was never taught that in school. What exactly does a RN do in the Health Department as an entry level nurse?

You assist the doctor in those procedures like paps, you don't do them yourself. I've explained everything they do in the previous post.