Ambulatory Care Nursing

After several months of applying to various positions at different facilities, I was offered a per diem RN position in an ambulatory care setting! Yeah I know I've only been a RN for like 5.2 seconds but remember I am only employed part-time, leaving room for me to work elsewhere to supplement both my income and experience. It wasn't easy since I lack ambulatory care experience and I am still a relatively new nurse still developing my practice but I was honest about my experience and knowledge, and apparently sold myself at the interview. Interestingly enough my very first interview for an RN job was at a large outpatient clinic but I was hesitant to begin my nursing career there since I felt it was imperative to have at least some acute care experience before going the outpatient/ambulatory route. Now, roughly a year later (I interviewed for the job right before taking NCLEX last year) I find myself trying to transition to ambulatory care, perhaps a little sooner than I initially anticipated. Since the position is per diem, I will be maintaining my current med/surg position while I work in outpatient practice which is cool since I will have a mix of experience (not to mention I keep my current position for at least a year) which I feel looks better to potential employers. I was told the position could potentially lead to full-time in the future but even if it doesn't, this opportunity will at the very least allow me to explore working in an ambulatory care setting with less commitment and more flexibility (the employer could say the same!). I start orientation next month.

Is Ambulatory Care for Me?

Quite frankly, I don't know. In my pediatric clinical in school, I worked in a peds clinic and although some areas appealed to me (like triage/walk-in, patient education), some aspects of working in the clinic seemed a little boring to me (I also have experience volunteering at a health fair which I loved but don't know if that counts for ambulatory experience). Ambulatory care however is so varied and it's hard to use my one time experience to determine whether or not I would enjoy working in a clinic setting for adults. What I do know is that the days and hours I will potentially work would be less than the 13+ hour days I work at the hospital, will never work Sundays there  (since the clinic is not open on Sundays), and the clinic is part of a large hospital system that could potentially expose me to other acute or ambulatory care opportunities in the future if that's where my spirit leads me. I am also realizing that management of chronic conditions seem more appealing to me now than the unpredictability of acute conditions in the hospital (I guess working in critical care is no longer an ideal option for me?). I am cautiously optimistic about my new position but optimistic nonetheless.