Which nursing specialty has the most autonomy/independence? Apart from nursing practioner

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Can someone please list the top 5 nursing specialties that have the most autonomy, where you can work on your own at least for most of the time without needing someone else's help or simply with nobody present with you?

And which specialties has the least autonomy? Just curious.

Corrections is pretty automomous. I work at a county jail with 400 inmates and only 3 nurses on duty. Doctors are there for only a few hours a day, 4 days a week.

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Patient Blood Management for sure. Relatively new field, one RN runs the show in partnership with anesthesiologists and surgeons. Total and complete autonomy. Own office, with computer, business cards the works.

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Specializes in Med-surg, acute rehab, cardiac, oncology, dialysis.

Tommy, I work for a disabled and senior services agency as part of state government and I absolutely LOVE this job. It's almost all paperwork. I also see clients in nursing facilities and try to get them placed in assisted living facilities, foster homes, hospice care, residential care facilities, or home with whatever assistance they need, rather than staying in nursing homes. Why? Because almost everyone can agree that nursing homes are not the best setting for most people, and clients usually want to go home. If they can do it safely, great. If not, we try to find the best alternative. It's a great job for someone who has a lot of experience in rehab, med/surg and other general experience, is getting older and just can't keep up with floor work any longer. I have an office with a door, use a computer, have regular daytime hours, and can pick when I go out and see clients. I can use my own car or use a state car. I'm pretty autonomous. State jobs don't pay as well as hospitals, of course, but the benefits are great, so take your pick. I can't say enough good stuff about it. If you see a job like this, go for it!

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Good for you! That sounds really rewarding! :)

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Tommy, I work for a disabled and senior services agency as part of state government and I absolutely LOVE this job. It's almost all paperwork. I also see clients in nursing facilities and try to get them placed in assisted living facilities, foster homes, hospice care, residential care facilities, or home with whatever assistance they need, rather than staying in nursing homes. Why? Because almost everyone can agree that nursing homes are not the best setting for most people, and clients usually want to go home. If they can do it safely, great. If not, we try to find the best alternative. It's a great job for someone who has a lot of experience in rehab, med/surg and other general experience, is getting older and just can't keep up with floor work any longer. I have an office with a door, use a computer, have regular daytime hours, and can pick when I go out and see clients. I can use my own car or use a state car. I'm pretty autonomous. State jobs don't pay as well as hospitals, of course, but the benefits are great, so take your pick. I can't say enough good stuff about it. If you see a job like this, go for it!

Good for you! That sounds really rewarding! :)

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I am a occupational health nurse/case manager and work in an office. However I have complete responsibility and accountability for my duties. I am backed up by a physician, but have control over my caseload. Occupational Nursing doesn't sound terribly glamorous, but it is interesting. I like regulations and my undergraduate degree is Health Care magement. ..so it's a good fit for me.

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Specializes in ICU.
Patient Blood Management for sure. Relatively new field, one RN runs the show in partnership with anesthesiologists and surgeons. Total and complete autonomy. Own office, with computer, business cards the works.

This sounds interesting - could you explain a bit more what you do exactly? Is it like running a blood bank?

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Hi. Nope it's got nothing to do with lab/blood banking. It is "bloodless medicine" or "blood conservation". Simply put it is a program aimed at reducing the use of blood transfusions in hospitals, by making sure patients Hgb levels are optimized before surgery. Basically you run an outpatient assessment clinic, Monday to Friday days only. Englewood Hospital in New Jersey is one of the founding hospitals, but there are lots all over the U.S. Where there isn't one, you can easily prove cost savings to start one!:yes:

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School nursing. I'm the only healthcare professional covering multiple buildings, tons of autonomy and decision making skills on my own.

What are your responsibilities and duties as a school nurse?

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Rural nurses for sure! When your in the middle of no where and the closest doctor is a plane flight away you'd be surprised how autonomous nurses can be!

Other then that I'd say flight/critical transport nurses.

When I worked ICU I used to think I was very autonomous, but it's mostly protocols and algorithms that I'm working with...

How was ICU for you? Was it overwhelming or stressful?

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I have heard that corrections nurses are very independent but don't know from experience. ICU nurses are fairly independent but in the hospital in general I think it depends a lot on the docs you're working

Corrections would definitely be interesting.

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Not counting advanced practice nurses. Among regular RNs

1) Transport (ground and air ambulanced, usually critical care transport, mobile intensive care (my last job).

2) Rapid Response (my current job) among those hospitals that have a full time RRT RN.

3) Rural, critical access hospital ER RN. (My past job). I used to work at a tiny 12 bed very rural hospital. Sometimes we didn't even have a provider in the building as some of the family docs took ER call from their home just down the block. On many nights I was the only RN in the building, with a total staff of maybe 2 and a doctor oncall. In my state rural ER RNs can become licensed as limited use x-ray techs. Sometimes I acted as the RN, the MD (for a little while) , respiratory therapist, rad tech, ambulance paramedic, bouncer, and other things I can't think of right now.

4) SICU - (my past job) very dependant on the hospital, can be very high, or not so much.

5) MICU - Same as SICU.

What specialty is rapid response?

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