Nurses certainly have options. With demand for qualified and caring nurses at an all-time high, there is no shortage of workplaces for a new nurse or veteran nurse to choose from. At the end of the day, it’s all about educating yourself on the available options and making the best choice for you personally.
One of the most common nursing roles is a staff nurse, also commonly called a hospital nurse. For many nurses, staff nurse was their first job title. While many nurses use this position as a stepping stone to the next phase of their nursing career, for others it is a calling that they stay with for years.
This helpful guide to the benefits of working as a staff nurse can help you decide the best path for you.
What is a staff nurse?
The term staff nurse generally describes a registered nurse who is on staff at a medical facility. While it is commonly associated with a hospital, staff nurses can also work in other facilities such as rehabilitation centers or nursing homes. Staff nurses report to a higher ranking medical professional, such as a director of nursing, nurse practitioner, or physician, depending on their role.
The duties of a staff nurse can include greeting and performing an initial assessment of a patient, collecting diagnostic information, and administering medication. They assist doctors and other practitioners in carrying out care plans as well as helping prepare for discharge and delivering home care instructions. Staff nurses can work in departments throughout the facility, including intensive care, medical-surgical units, and pediatric units.
The Benefits of Being a Staff Nurse
Staff nursing can be a rewarding and fulfilling career that offers the following benefits:
- Experience: Being a staff nurse is a great way to learn the ropes of nursing. Nurses who are looking to eventually grow into other areas can leverage the experience they gain being a bedside nurse at a hospital. Many employers, from surgery centers to nursing agencies, list experience as a staff nurse as a requirement, or at least a plus.
- Variety: If you like working with a lot of different people, being a staff nurse is for you. From the other nurses and assistants you work with to the physicians to helping multiple patients during each shift, you will certainly never be bored!
- Short Weeks: One advantage many nurses enjoy is a three to four-day work week. While the shifts may be long, 10 to 12 hours or more, in fact, the extra days off can be a worthwhile trade.
- Stability and Job Security: For many staff nurses, being employed at a dedicated facility with a set role and title is a good feeling. Because most healthcare facilities are currently experiencing nursing shortages, knowing you are a valued and essential member of the team can be a major benefit.
It’s just as important to understand the potential drawbacks as well. Staff nurses work long days, are on their feet for all or most of it, and frequently deal with stress and overwhelming workloads. As an alternative, many nurses turn to a nursing agency.
The Benefits of Nursing Agencies
A nursing agency is an organization that provides staffing services to healthcare facilities and homes in need of nursing care. Clients of nursing agencies can include hospitals, surgery centers, nursing homes, rehab facilities, clinics, doctor’s offices, and any other location where nurses are employed. Nursing agencies also commonly provide home health services to patients who are in need of care in a home setting.
Nursing agencies can specialize in a particular area or provide general nursing services. This can include employing registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) as well as certified nursing assistants (CNAs).
The advantages of being an agency nurse include:
- Independence: Agency nurses often work independently, especially in home health. Even in other settings, agency nurses can expect to be thrown into new and different situations on a regular basis. This requires agency nurses to be proactive and resourceful.
- Intimate Patient Care: Nurses who want to focus all of their care and attention on one patient at a time often become home health agency nurses. In some situations, a home health nurse can even spend all or most of their work week with a single patient.
- Flexibility: Nurses who don’t want to be locked into a set schedule or type of shift very often turn to agency nursing. No matter what type of hours or schedule you need, there is a nursing agency that can likely meet your needs.
Being an agency nurse can offer advantages, but it doesn’t always offer the security, stability, and benefits of being a staff nurse. This is especially true for agencies that hire on a contract or temporary basis.
Care Options for Kids Offers the Best of Both Worlds for Home Health Nurses
Home health is a highly rewarding and growing area of health care that many nurses are entering and loving. Care Options for Kids is a home health agency that hires nurses as full time or part time employees, offering the pay, benefits, and stability of staff nursing with the flexibility of agency nursing. Care Options for Kids nurses enjoy:
- Health plans including medical, dental, and vision coverage
- PTO
- 401K plans
- Training and growth opportunities
- Continuing education credits
- Weekly pay at competitive rates
- Flexible scheduling
For many nurses, working with a home health agency like Care Options for Kids offers just the right combination of benefits for their work-life balance and long-term career goals.
Contact Care Options for Kids for Home Health Care
It can be hard to balance time between work, home, and caring for a child. That’s why the team of skilled professionals at Care Options for Kids is here to help. We have been enforcing precautionary measures and following the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for COVID-19 to ensure the safety and health of our clients and employees.
Our home health care services offer one-on-one support in the comfort of your home. We are always looking for loving and competent nurses to provide customized care for families — from a few hours a day to around-the-clock supervision.
Applying for a position with Care Options for Kids is quick and simple. Our online application process eliminates the need to come into a local office until you are ready to meet with our Director of Nursing. Your application, resumé, license, and CPR card are all uploaded online. We make it as easy as possible to join our team. Call today at (888) 592-5855.
