Some people begin nursing school knowing exactly what specialty they want to go into when they graduate. Others just know that they want to become a nurse but are unsure of which specialty they want to pursue. Clinical rotations not only help you gain the experience you need to become a nurse, but they also help you realize which specialty suits your particular needs.
If you are still in nursing school, this is your opportunity to test out each clinical rotation to see if it is something you wish to learn more about and possibly work in one day. You'll be surprised at the way you may change your mind while working in each specialty during these rotations. Sometimes you may think you will really enjoy a specialty, but you may find yourself not enjoying it as much as you thought. Other specialties that you thought you wouldn't enjoy may quickly become you favorite. Make the best of each rotation and learn as much as you can so you can make a sound decision regarding the specialty you choose to work in after you graduate.
As technology becomes increasingly more sophisticated, the opportunities to work from home as a nurse expand to offer vast career choices for you to stay at home and still enjoy a rewarding career in nursing. Avoiding a commute to and from work and having more time to spend with your family are both enticing reasons to seek career opportunities that enable you to work from home. If bedside nursing is not something you're interested in, or you're just seeking a change of pace, working from home might be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Some companies offer on-the-job training, and they're usually very flexible with hours as long as you put in the required time. Make no mistake though, although you may be at home, you'll still be working and your employer will still require you to be at work on time. Even if this means you're just jumping out of bed and going into your office at home, still in your pajamas. A job is a job.
If you think you won't be monitored at home, you're very mistaken. With the technological advances we have today, monitoring people that work from home is just as easy as monitoring them in a facility like a hospital or an office setting. Employers are now able to see what time you log on to your computer and keep track of your hours. If you leave your desk and you receive an instant message from your boss, you may be in a bit of hot water. You can't be in another room making fried chicken or feeding the baby when the boss decides it's time for a chat.
You usually need a computer for most work from home jobs. Most of the time these are provided for you along with any other equipment necessary to do you job from home. High-speed Internet is also something that is usually required, and most employers will reimburse you for any charges you incur.
Sometimes you can be trained from home, and other times it is necessary to go for training at the employer's headquarters before you are qualified to work alone. Some companies are located out of state or even on another country. So it's not unusual for them to require you to fly to their location to be trained, and you may also be required to attend additional training meetings as needed. When this is necessary, your travel expenses will be paid by the employer.
If you're seeking work from home opportunities, it helps to know others that are working from home. But if you don't know anyone with a work-from-home position then you can search job boards until you find one that suits you. Onlyanurse.com has a job board, and that's a great place to begin your search. You can find it here Nursing-work-from-home-jobs Always have a good resume on hand and revise your resume as changes occur. You should attach a cover letter to each resume application to make it more customized and personal to the particular job you're applying for.
These types of positions usually require you to be highly personable with a good phone voice. So when interviewed you should write down answers to any questions you may be asked ahead of time, to prepare yourself for a great interview. During the interview think of yourself as a salesperson. You are the product, and you need to convey to the employer all your best qualities. It's important to write everything down beforehand, so you sound prepared and on point.
Do your homework and learn about the company before you are interviewed. Inevitably you will be asked why you want to work for their company and what you know about them. If you are knowledgeable about their company when asked, this is a big plus.
Here are some of the work-from-home positions that are available for nurses.
1. Telephone Triage or Telehealth
Most Telephone Triage nursing jobs are work from home. The company you work for supplies the software and any other equipment you may need; all you have to have is a private room to be able to communicate with your patients. Because of HIPAA laws you may be required to have a file drawer with a lock on it to keep any patient information. You may also be required to have a shredder in the office to shred any information that you have printed about patients and no longer need. You may need to attend training at their facility, and you may even be required to go for meetings periodically, but you will be working from home the majority of the time. Many times these companies offer you a stipend, to set up your home office and pay for all your supplies as needed. Pharmaceutical companies have many work-from-home opportunities, as do case management positions.
2. Medical Transcription
Having a knowledge of medical terminology, medical tests, procedures and the language that medical professions speak is a plus with this career choice. This is a great job for nurses. You can work for physicians, clinics, hospitals, the legal profession (those that deal with malpractice, etc.) and insurance companies. This is not a job that is going away; according to the Department of Labor, this is a job that is trending upwards and will continue to be in demand. And this is not a job that gets outsourced overseas on a regular basis due to security and privacy issues.
Some companies even offer on-the-job training. This is a great opportunity for nurses who have small children, as it usually doesn’t matter what hours you work, as long as you get the job done. You must have a good ear for dictation, because physicians don’t always speak clearly and often speak quite fast.
Doing this type of consulting for a law firm or insurance company, you may have to work in house for a while before being allowed to work from home. Legal nurse consultants help lawyers and other legal professionals to understand and analyze complex medical data encountered in medically-related legal cases. Examples of legal matters that may require the expertise of a legal nurse consultant include personal injury, medical malpractice, and product and nursing liability lawsuits; sexual assault and criminal defense cases; and toxic torts. Specific duties of legal nurse consultants vary widely but might include the following:
Screening cases for merit
Locating and interviewing witnesses and preparing witness reports for trial
Formulating medical-legal theories
Handling plaintiffs' medical records
Analyzing and interpreting information for defense attorneys
Legal nurse consultants also are hired as expert witnesses in legal cases that go to court.
It is usually necessary to take a course in Legal Nurse Consulting before applying for this specialty. But the great thing about Legal Nurse Consulting is that you can often start your own business and work for yourself. Here's a link for more information on this work-from-home specialty Legal Nurse consulting
4. Home Health Care
This job is not for all nurses because you must be highly organized, be able to work independently, and have very good clinical skills. Not a job for a nurse fresh out of nursing school, but it is great for a nurse that has a strong clinical background and is interested in visiting patients out in the field and working from home, doing the required paperwork. The paperwork is usually transferred wirelessly, and monthly meetings in
5. Sales/Marketing
Working for a pharmaceutical or a Durable Medical Supply Company helping to sell their goods, moving them from the producer to the buyer. Your work would be done from home, with you having a territory (just like in home care) where you would meet with clients in person or on the phone, selling or marketing a product or service.
These positions usually have great benefits like company cars and/or mileage reimbursement, food allowance and hotels are paid for if you are required to stay the night while working on an account.
6. Case Management
Working for insurance companies, or hospitals as a field case manager is a great job for a nurse that wants to work from home. It usually requires visits to patients homes to investigate and assess them, but the majority of your work is done at home. You will need a private area to work in your home for this position.
Not all of these work-at-home nursing jobs will keep you at home all day, but you will work independently, without someone looking over your shoulders or interrupting you. That's a big plus for nurses who prefer to work more autonomously.
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DAHO— A nurse at St. Luke Magic Valley Medical Center is facing a wrongful death suit filed by the family of a seven-month-old child who received an adult dose of saline mixed with potassium phosphate.