7 answers
Katherine
Student
United States
10
Questions
Asked
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What are some Nursing-related jobs LPN's or RN's can go into that aren't directly related to patient care?
I love caring for people but I have a lower stress tolerance than most and think being in a high stress working environment would not be a great choice for me. I however don't want to be bored/not stimulated mentally. #nurse #LPN #LVN #RN #RegisteredNurse #nursing #healthcare #medical
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7 answers
Victoria Paige Sexton BSN, RN, TCRN, LNC
Trauma Nurse
3
Answers
Memphis, Tennessee
Updated
Victoria Paige’s Answer
Hello dear.
So nursing is a very vast field. There are a lot of specialties and, once you gain experience, a lot of doors can be opened for you depending on what your passions are. You can go into legal nurse consulting where you help lawyers with their cases (something I do). You can teach, both in a classroom setting or hospital. You can write articles, conduct research, perform informatics, so many things. Literally the world is the nurse’s oyster if he or she chooses to chase what they are passionate about. However, to fully know what you like or are expert at you must first gain the experience. This starts with bedside nursing and is required to jump into the other facets of the field. This takes time so you can’t graduate then immediately start teaching or consulting, but after a few years you will find your niche and flourish.
So nursing is a very vast field. There are a lot of specialties and, once you gain experience, a lot of doors can be opened for you depending on what your passions are. You can go into legal nurse consulting where you help lawyers with their cases (something I do). You can teach, both in a classroom setting or hospital. You can write articles, conduct research, perform informatics, so many things. Literally the world is the nurse’s oyster if he or she chooses to chase what they are passionate about. However, to fully know what you like or are expert at you must first gain the experience. This starts with bedside nursing and is required to jump into the other facets of the field. This takes time so you can’t graduate then immediately start teaching or consulting, but after a few years you will find your niche and flourish.
Thank you so much Victoria I really appreciate you taking the time to comment and I do apologize for getting back to you so late. While I am still unsure exactly what I want to do in the broad field of nursing, I know that there are so many options out there for me once I get some experience as a nurse. I start nursing school relatively soon and am praying for the best. Hope you are staying safe from the new COVID variant and thank you for all that you do :)
Katherine
Hi i am thank to u for all this kindness
Margaret
HP Le
Consulting/Sales/Business Development
4
Answers
Huntington Beach, California
Updated
HP’s Answer
KB - nursing can be an extremely rewarding career, personally, professionally, and financially. With COVID, nurses are in higher demand. However, as an entry-level frontline healthcare professional, you may be doing a lot of repetitive and not-so-stimulating tasks in a very stressful environment (i.e. life or death environment). Most entry-level nursing jobs involve direct patient care. You can eventually go into Utilization Review, Case Management, and other jobs that do not require direct patient care, but those jobs require experience.
I would recommend that you outreach to clinics, hospitals, medical offices, and healthcare providers in your area to see if you can shadow a nurse to learn more about a day-in-the-life of a LPN/RN to help you make an informed decision. You can also research the nursing profession by interviewing neighbors and friends-of-friends and/or extended family members. You'll get better answers if you ask open-ended questions and if you volunteer personal information about yourself during these interviews. For example, expound on the comment you made about "being in a high-stress working environment would not be a great choice for you" or what do you mean by "bored/not stimulated mentally"? You want work to challenge you mentally, but this is not going be the case all the time.
My wife is a Public Health Nurse and a Case Manager and I have worked in a large hospital setting with clinical and research responsibilities so I know a little bit about the medical profession and nursing. I wish you great success as you embark on the next chapter of your life. May the Force be with you!
I would recommend that you outreach to clinics, hospitals, medical offices, and healthcare providers in your area to see if you can shadow a nurse to learn more about a day-in-the-life of a LPN/RN to help you make an informed decision. You can also research the nursing profession by interviewing neighbors and friends-of-friends and/or extended family members. You'll get better answers if you ask open-ended questions and if you volunteer personal information about yourself during these interviews. For example, expound on the comment you made about "being in a high-stress working environment would not be a great choice for you" or what do you mean by "bored/not stimulated mentally"? You want work to challenge you mentally, but this is not going be the case all the time.
My wife is a Public Health Nurse and a Case Manager and I have worked in a large hospital setting with clinical and research responsibilities so I know a little bit about the medical profession and nursing. I wish you great success as you embark on the next chapter of your life. May the Force be with you!
Liz Anderson RN, BSN, PHN
Find what you LOVE!
33
Answers
Los Angeles, California
Updated
Liz’s Answer
Hello, hope you are getting tons of good information here.
This is a great question, and some ideas I can think of are
School Nurse
Appeals Board
Legal Nursing
Management
IT
Pharmaceuticals
Instrument Representative
Education
Healthcare Mentor-Tutor-Advisor
Let me know if you have any further questions, and good luck with everything. :)
Liz Anderson
This is a great question, and some ideas I can think of are
School Nurse
Appeals Board
Legal Nursing
Management
IT
Pharmaceuticals
Instrument Representative
Education
Healthcare Mentor-Tutor-Advisor
Let me know if you have any further questions, and good luck with everything. :)
Liz Anderson
Shannon Kelley
various roles
49
Answers
Cranston, Rhode Island
Updated
Shannon’s Answer
You can have a lower-stress nursing job. however all jobs have some stress here & there. i do recommend that you find a way to learn some coping skills that will help in all areas of life - not just at work but also in relationships & whatever else you do. it's a pain in the neck, yes, but everyone has to learn it. start by reading some self-help books and/or talking to a therapist. it has nothing to do with being crazy. you'd just be learning new life skills & increasing your self-confidence.
a key to having less stress as a nurse is to learn your skills solid. that way when stress does happen you're prepared for anything. Of course nothing is absolute, so do research & ask questions about what's written here to be sure that particular job offers what you want.
so, here are some jobs that have lower stress. (btw all nursing jobs involve a lot of paperwork. learn how to do it quickly & accurately so you can move on to other tasks).
be a nurse at a school (including a college): you'll mostly keep records, call parents to pick up a kid who's suddenly sick, do annual testing (like hearing & scoliosis tests). some schools have students who will need help with feeding tubes & other similar things. you may be called to attend to any emergency that happens, which might be too much stress for you. if you can tolerate that, you'll be able to send your kids to this school for free.
be a nurse in a nursing home: this is not the cleanest of jobs. there can be emergencies. mostly you'd write & follow a treatment plan to keep the patients comfortable & functioning. you'd do treatments & tests, give medications and call the doctor for new plans when things change. if you enjoy people & work with good people, this can be a nice family-like environment where you grow close to the people around you.
be a nurse in a family doctor's office: similar to a nursing home, this can be a nice environment where you participate in peoples' lives & watch families grow. you'd do tests & treatments, give meds & vaccines, supply education & do paperwork.
be a nurse at a specialty doctor's office: if you pick a field like dermatology, cosmetic plastic surgery, ENT, podiatry you won't have many true emergencies in the office (no guarantee, of course). you'll do tests & treatments, keep records, normal office stuff like that.
be a nurse in the employee health office at any kind of employer: similar to working at a school, you'd keep records & attend to employees who are sick. there may be real emergencies. here's a secret: if you work at a hospital, the ER staff may be the first ones called for emergencies. maybe you won't be involved at all unless it happens in your office.
these above jobs are usually conducted during bankers hours, 8-hour days with holidays off. the stress that happens is mostly because patients are anxious for test results, or a doctor wanting everything RIGHT NOW, or co-workers who don't get along. Quite different from an ER job, for example, with widely varying work hours & many patients at risk of dying.
the above jobs also have significant daily face-to-face patient contact. if you want to avoid that, you could be a telemedicine nurse. you'd talk to patients on the phone or video chat. you'll ask the right questions to get the right information to help them. sometimes you can answer their questions, other times you forward their questions on to a doctor. you won't have to be on your feet all day or clean up bodily fluids. If the patient has a heart attack while you're talking, you'll call 911 for them but won't be doing CPR. These jobs will become more & more available as video chat spreads.
be a nurse for an insurance company: very similar to telemedicine, with the addition of interpreting the company's rules. happens in an office but some employers may want you to/let you work at home.
be a nurse for research: similar to a doctor's office, with the addition of following research procedures (which are very strict). happens in an office. low risk of emergencies. lots of paperwork.
a key to having less stress as a nurse is to learn your skills solid. that way when stress does happen you're prepared for anything. Of course nothing is absolute, so do research & ask questions about what's written here to be sure that particular job offers what you want.
so, here are some jobs that have lower stress. (btw all nursing jobs involve a lot of paperwork. learn how to do it quickly & accurately so you can move on to other tasks).
be a nurse at a school (including a college): you'll mostly keep records, call parents to pick up a kid who's suddenly sick, do annual testing (like hearing & scoliosis tests). some schools have students who will need help with feeding tubes & other similar things. you may be called to attend to any emergency that happens, which might be too much stress for you. if you can tolerate that, you'll be able to send your kids to this school for free.
be a nurse in a nursing home: this is not the cleanest of jobs. there can be emergencies. mostly you'd write & follow a treatment plan to keep the patients comfortable & functioning. you'd do treatments & tests, give medications and call the doctor for new plans when things change. if you enjoy people & work with good people, this can be a nice family-like environment where you grow close to the people around you.
be a nurse in a family doctor's office: similar to a nursing home, this can be a nice environment where you participate in peoples' lives & watch families grow. you'd do tests & treatments, give meds & vaccines, supply education & do paperwork.
be a nurse at a specialty doctor's office: if you pick a field like dermatology, cosmetic plastic surgery, ENT, podiatry you won't have many true emergencies in the office (no guarantee, of course). you'll do tests & treatments, keep records, normal office stuff like that.
be a nurse in the employee health office at any kind of employer: similar to working at a school, you'd keep records & attend to employees who are sick. there may be real emergencies. here's a secret: if you work at a hospital, the ER staff may be the first ones called for emergencies. maybe you won't be involved at all unless it happens in your office.
these above jobs are usually conducted during bankers hours, 8-hour days with holidays off. the stress that happens is mostly because patients are anxious for test results, or a doctor wanting everything RIGHT NOW, or co-workers who don't get along. Quite different from an ER job, for example, with widely varying work hours & many patients at risk of dying.
the above jobs also have significant daily face-to-face patient contact. if you want to avoid that, you could be a telemedicine nurse. you'd talk to patients on the phone or video chat. you'll ask the right questions to get the right information to help them. sometimes you can answer their questions, other times you forward their questions on to a doctor. you won't have to be on your feet all day or clean up bodily fluids. If the patient has a heart attack while you're talking, you'll call 911 for them but won't be doing CPR. These jobs will become more & more available as video chat spreads.
be a nurse for an insurance company: very similar to telemedicine, with the addition of interpreting the company's rules. happens in an office but some employers may want you to/let you work at home.
be a nurse for research: similar to a doctor's office, with the addition of following research procedures (which are very strict). happens in an office. low risk of emergencies. lots of paperwork.
Linda Nguyen
7
Answers
Chicago, Illinois
Updated
Linda’s Answer
Hello! Non-clinical nurse roles include utilization review, medical review, precertification/prior authorization, informatics, healthcare data analytics, clinical documentation integrity, to name a few.
Sherie Greene
Human Resources
23
Answers
Los Angeles, California
Updated
Sherie’s Answer
Hi Katherine B.,
This is a great question. A friend of mine who has her nurse's license did exactly what you are asking. There are jobs as Medical systems Manager that nurses take on where they are helping with creating online platforms on systems that doctors and nurses who work in hospitals will be using daily. You could be a coder, or work in clinical services- such as social worker but only dealing with the paperwork vs the patients. My friend works in "Informatics"- providing information and training to medical staff on the platforms that they will be using at various hospitals, now that the medical field as moved to a digital world. These opportunities may take time to get into, however once in these roles, they are great jobs and depending on the state you are in , you could make over 6 figures. Best of luck to you.
This is a great question. A friend of mine who has her nurse's license did exactly what you are asking. There are jobs as Medical systems Manager that nurses take on where they are helping with creating online platforms on systems that doctors and nurses who work in hospitals will be using daily. You could be a coder, or work in clinical services- such as social worker but only dealing with the paperwork vs the patients. My friend works in "Informatics"- providing information and training to medical staff on the platforms that they will be using at various hospitals, now that the medical field as moved to a digital world. These opportunities may take time to get into, however once in these roles, they are great jobs and depending on the state you are in , you could make over 6 figures. Best of luck to you.
Sandra Hurst
nurse
32
Answers
Jacksonville, Florida
Updated
Sandra’s Answer
Hello Katherine,
Typically, LPNs provide direct patient care; RNs can venture out into either direct or indirect patient/people contact as they advance their education, which is the most advantageous opportunity that an RN can use as a goal to indirectly provide services; there are so many avenues that RNs can practice that involve indirect patient care such as: nursing instructor, coach, case management, legal nurse consultant, utilization management, leadership, researcher, quality improvement, informatics, patient advocate, risk manager, or nurse educator; however, LPNs are limited to these options due to their degree and licensure levels that still can be advanced to the RN level with an advanced degree. I hoped this information helped you and good luck in your nursing career endeavors.
Typically, LPNs provide direct patient care; RNs can venture out into either direct or indirect patient/people contact as they advance their education, which is the most advantageous opportunity that an RN can use as a goal to indirectly provide services; there are so many avenues that RNs can practice that involve indirect patient care such as: nursing instructor, coach, case management, legal nurse consultant, utilization management, leadership, researcher, quality improvement, informatics, patient advocate, risk manager, or nurse educator; however, LPNs are limited to these options due to their degree and licensure levels that still can be advanced to the RN level with an advanced degree. I hoped this information helped you and good luck in your nursing career endeavors.