Stating the
obvious, you can certainly use a nursing degree to obtain a job at a
hospital. You may also seek out, and
probably find a position within, a private practice, or medical clinic. Those positions are of course the common areas
that nurse look to upon graduating nursing school. There are however a number of areas that you
may not think of, perhaps a little less common, yet viable places for a nurse
to be employed.
Private
Companies
Some large
companies now employ nurses on a full time basis. The job essentially involves relatively short
visits with company employees that may be sick or have an injury. As the on duty nurse, you would examine and
evaluate the patient. You would then
offer recommendations based on their condition, making suggestions of over the
counter medications and products, or a visit to their primary care doctor. A position such as this can be very different
than what most nurses do, as you are generally not surrounded by medical emergencies,
and you don't have regular patients. In
order to be successful in a position of this type, you would need to be ok with
working alone, and not alongside other nurses.
Your job would most likely not involve shift work, overtime, or holiday
work, so there are some advantages.
Related: International
Nurses Association - What does a Certified Nurse Midwife Do?
School
Nurse
Most schools
that are average size or larger now employ a nurse. It may or may not be full time, depending on
the school’s needs. The main benefit to
this position is, you would probably maintain the same hours and holidays as
the teachers. As an elementary school
nurse you may or may or may not work alone, depending on the size of the school
and number of students. Working in a
high school, again would depend on the number of students, however, if there is
more than one nurse, it is generally no more than a staff of two. If you are looking to coincide hours with your
own school aged children, this could be a perfect fit. Requirements for this
position would be that you have a desire to work with children, and pediatric
experience would be a plus.
Virtual
Nurse Help Line
With so many
jobs going virtual today, it’s no wonder that nursing jobs are evolving in that
direction as well. You cannot accurately
diagnose someone without physically seeing them; however you can offer advice
and direction based on information provided by the caller. Most virtual nurse help line jobs are
available in increments of 4 hour shifts, and you would be required to have a
dedicated line, a computer, and a quiet office setting. You would be expected to be 100% available
during your designated shift.
Event
Nurse
An event nurse
is a job that is recently becoming popular.
Essentially, you attend events and have a small room available to
evaluate someone in an emergency. You
would also be expected to make your way through a crowd to tend to a person
that was unable to transport themselves.
In a case such as that, most likely your job would entail providing care
until emergency personnel arrived to transport said person to a hospital. Some of the locations for event nurses would
be:
• Arena’s
• Stadiums
• Concert Halls
• Auditoriums
• Coliseum
• Fairs & Carnivals
• Concerts Outdoors
An event nurse
can be very different, and exciting, you would attend events and meet numerous
people. The negative with being an event
nurse would be that in many situations you could be faced with a person
intoxicated and uncooperative. Working
as an event nurse would involve being very patient and understanding, as you
would deal with a variety or patients and conditions. You would also need to consider that you
would most likely not have regular hours, so it may work out well for a nurse
looking for occasional and part time employment.
Sheltered
Workshop
Many people
may not realize just how many workshops provide training and jobs for adults
with disabilities. Most of the workshops
provide an on-site nurse, or nurses. As
a general rule, the workshops operate a regular Monday thru Friday working
schedule, with holidays off. As a nurse
working with patients with developmental disabilities, you would have the
opportunity work with some very special individuals. Many people with developmental delays are
unable to communicate well, which would mean that you would need to diagnose
without much verbal interaction from the patient. A staff member can often offer input as to
the patient’s needs, however much of diagnosis would be in the hands of the
nurse. Wheelchair bound patients would
need to be monitored closely for bedsores, and some of the attendees’ may have
feeding tubes that need to be monitored.
In most cases, the center nurse is responsible for maintaining on site
medications, and making sure the medications are distributed properly.
Retirement
Community
Don’t confuse
a retirement community with a nursing home!
The residents will not take kindly to being referred to as nursing home
residents. People living in a retirement
community are generally very active and productive senior citizens. They are far from considering themselves as “old”
and still live very active lives. Many
of the retirement communities offer the services of a nurse. In some cases there is a nurse on staff 24/7,
however, most retirement homes provide nursing services during weekdays
only. You may be involved in helping to
organize medications for residents that vary depending on the facility or
community itself. The positive side of
this position is working with people that have a world of experience,
knowledge, and usually a great sense of humor that they are willing to share
with you. This can be one of the more
rewarding nursing careers, especially if you prefer working with senior
citizens.
Research Facility
Most large
research facilities employ at least one full time nurse to provide input from a
nursing standpoint. A position such as
this would virtually have no hands on involvement with patients, however you
would be contributing to the welfare of patients as part of a research
team. If you enjoy science and research,
this would be a good field to consider.
Gyms and
Health Clubs
Some large
health clubs and gyms may employ nurses to work and be available during their
busiest hours of operations. The hours
may be irregular, and peak hours for such facilities are often split, which
would involve split shifts. Much of this
type of position would involve evaluating people for exercise regimens,
although the occasional emergency may prevail.
If you have nursing experience in the athletic field, this may be of
particular interest to you.
Spas and
Resorts
Your first
reaction to this type of position is, do they offer discounts to
employees? The good news is, many do, in
fact, many offer their employees free services.
As a spa or resort nurse, you would work with people that are having
services provided at that location. Much
of this may involve heat related issues, although the occasional injury can
occur that requires an emergency response.
The hours for nurses at a spa or resort would totally be at the
discretion of the facility director, they could range from part time weekdays,
to 24/7, depending on needs.
There
are numerous jobs for nurses that do not involve working in a hospital, clinic,
or private practice. No longer are you
destined to work in a clinical setting just because you have a nursing
license. Explore what your area of
interest is, and then research potential nursing jobs within that field. You may be surprised how many non-healthcare
related nursing jobs that are available.
Depending on your requirements of part time, full time, or even
occasional, you can find the perfect job, for a near perfect nurse.
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