Almost every doctor office I submitted applications to in my tristate area pays an RN, so it seems graduate wages or lower? I am a 20 year experienced nurse first LPN then RN. I was shocked since this is one of my alternatives to staying in the field. I cannot no longer keep up with LTC, there are to many issues; low staff ratio, and poor equipment to work with. I hurt my back helping move a 400lb woman, because theses facilities will take anyone for the money regardless if they have enough help. The hospital I've been there done that and cannot cope with it anymore. It's more so the long hours or 12hr shifts I do not like. I have this FMS, so I try to work more compatible jobs to avoid becoming fatigued.
I am presently giving Flu and Pneumonia vaccines with a clinic until November. It is so nice. I love meeting people and educating them. I really want to work for a doctor something I've never done before I certainly have the tallent to master the office ways, but it's accepting the low pay and revamping my lifestyle or should I say downgrading my lifestyle. I can do it though It just makes me sad that doctors offices pay so very little to the RN and LPN.
One advantage of physician practices being bought and managed by hospital systems: equal pay for nurses. In my hospital, if I were to transfer tomorrow from my medical floor to a hospital owned physician practice, my pay would be the same.
Another aspect as well is that primary care offices make a lot less money on the whole than anything hospital related d/t lack of procedures (and subsequent reimbursement). Counseling a patient is not as profitable as doing an LP or intubation.
Because of this disparity primary care providers, including physicians, make a lot less $$ than their counterparts in hospital medicine or specialty areas. It follows that nurses make less too. Don't even get me started on how the financial incentives are in all the wrong places for prevention and health promotion.
Another aspect as well is that primary care offices make a lot less money on the whole than anything hospital related d/t lack of procedures (and subsequent reimbursement). Counseling a patient is not as profitable as doing an LP or intubation.
Because of this disparity primary care providers, including physicians, make a lot less $$ than their counterparts in hospital medicine or specialty areas. It follows that nurses make less too. Don't even get me started on how the financial incentives are in all the wrong places for prevention and health promotion.
There is not one single RN or LPN working at any of my doctors offices with the exception of gyne. My GP, pulmonary, GI docs as well as my husbands allergist use all Medical Assistants. My gyne uses licensed people because there is so much teaching to do. I did notice when I underwent kidney surgery 7 years ago that there were licensed nurses in his office. I imagine that is because there are so many high tech medical/surgical proceedures going on in a urology surgeon's office. Take for instance, both my stents were removed in the office not in the OR. I even did a post here once where I protested the fact that my friend, a office manager and a secretary, was being asked to do proceedures that required a nurse. She came to me asking for advice about dressing changes and such. I absolutely refused to help her in anyway because I was so furious at the surgeon for using a secretary to change dressings and irrigate wounds. I told her to tell that cheap ******* to hire a nurse.
I agree with all the above posters, but also think the low pay is a reflection of what doctors really think about nurses, ie: we are not that important to the whole healthcare picture. If they only knew
I am not sure where you live but look for jobs in research, compliance, risk management and other jobs that are not direct patient care. I also know a nurse who works for a company that helps audit long term care facilities so they can keep their accreditation - that might be something for you since you have experience in LTC.
Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.
I work PRN for a family med doc and p.a. and have for about 3 years. The doc is a friend of mine and I know his reimbursement amounts (medicaid and insurance) make it difficult to pay his staff a lot. He lives near me and although they are comfortable, he is nowhere near wealthy.
He has 2 MOAs who do everything - injections, x-rays, treatments, phlebotomy, even IV reclast (yes, even IVs). These are women who make about $11 an hour and they practice under his license. He doesn't have to pay an RN to work in his office. The only reason he hired me PRN is because we were friends and I needed a PRN job and have always wanted to work in a family medicine office. I feel lucky to get the $16 an hour I do get (I make $23/hour at my "regular" job - a rate that is pretty normal for the region in which I live). I love the office and even though I make much less money there, I thoroughly enjoy the work, the staff and the patients and feel pretty blessed to have the job. I won't get rich doing this (or my other job) but I sure enjoy it. It CAN be very, very stressful at times though.
Another aspect as well is that primary care offices make a lot less money on the whole than anything hospital related d/t lack of procedures (and subsequent reimbursement). Counseling a patient is not as profitable as doing an LP or intubation.
Because of this disparity primary care providers, including physicians, make a lot less $$ than their counterparts in hospital medicine or specialty areas. It follows that nurses make less too. Don't even get me started on how the financial incentives are in all the wrong places for prevention and health promotion.
A-men! The system will pay wild amounts of money for things like procedures, big shiny new machines, or specialist care anytime someone has a hangnail; however, it basically ignores the counseling/preventive care/low-level long-term management of chronic disease part of medical care. It drives me crazy. But until such counterproductive practices are addressed (along with appropriate reimbursement for nursing care), I wouldn't expect to see very many decent-paying RN jobs in primary care.
I applied to a speciality office on Friday by submitting my resume' they were asking for a RN with experience in MS. Don't know how that will pan out, but just maybe it will. I will be glad to work there, because I love drawing blood and doing all that stuff mention above. LTC is so cheap they trained the nurses to draw blood so all the company had to do was send a courier to pickup the blood. We even spun it down. So I have that experience. I am excited. I was going to look into Dialysis but those shifts are to long for me.
Thanks to the other poster who made some other suggestions in different areas of work.
Right now I am doing Flu and Pneumonia Clinics the hardest part of this job is the insurance paperwork. I mastered the Medicare B forms, but it's the different insurances that get me and checking to see if it is accepted. I totally love it thou it is easy money and fun. However, it is over in November and so that leaves me either taking a home health case (not) or finding something else.
Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.
Right now I am doing Flu and Pneumonia Clinics the hardest part of this job is the insurance paperwork. I mastered the Medicare B forms, but it's the different insurances that get me and checking to see if it is accepted. I totally love it thou it is easy money and fun. However, it is over in November and so that leaves me either taking a home health case (not) or finding something else.
Would you be willing to tell me how much you're making per hour doing these vax clinics? I've been hearing wildly differing amounts depending upon the company. Maxim pays only $15/hour in my area but I've heard people making upwards of $30/hour doing these clinics!
Two thoughts/suggestions: 1) Infusion therapy company Healix (sp) goes into various doctor's offices such as infectious disease practices and contracts to do the infusions for MS patients, severe MRSA, etc. These nurses are Healix employees, not employees of the doctor's ofc. Hours typically follow doctor's office hours with the exception that the infusion nurses rotate on covering weekend infusions. My understanding is that the pay/benefits are good; 2) New doctor I worked with the other day told me that many patients dx with FMS have been found deficient in Vit. D. He told me he believes info will come out in near future that many FMS pt sx's improve with tx of Vit. D deficiency. If you've not had the 25-hydroxy Vit. D test, you may want to discuss that with your med provider. I wish you much success in improving your health status, as well as finding your niche in nursing that complements your needs.
danursern
122 Posts
Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!