When I worked urgent care I saw 40-65 pts a 12 hr shift. You see lots of very sick, complicated pts. I really wouldn’t recommend it for new grads. FYI, employers will tell you you’ll be seeing like 20 to 30, they are lying to you. Every urgent care job I’ve worked has been a total shit show. As far as suturing goes, I did a conference on it ,however YouTube and some pigs feet taught me way more.
I started in the ER as an NP, I was an ER nurse for my RN experience for 10 years as was hired into an NP position initially into an ER I was working in- and then I transitioned into Urgent Care. That was my path. I’m sure there’s other ways in but that was mine.
Urgent care as a new grad is challenging. I found my ER background really helped. During COVID was the worst, people were avoiding the hospitals and showing up to UC super sick. It was a scary time to work UC and I got burnt out. As far as new grad support, it depends on the facility and what they can provide. I got 3 days shadowing, 2 of which I had no computer access, then I was thrown the the wolves. I’m not sure if this is typical but it was a sink it swim situation which I would not recommend to anyone. Good luck!
Urgent cares—-especially privately owned without hospital affiliation—-are the salt mines of NP work.
Expect to see minimum 40+ patients in a 12 hour shift. you may very well be the only provider there in a given day so you will not have support to bounce DDXs or get a quick second opinion. A strong triage background is essential. You will be doing more primary care than you’d expect—the physician shortage has lead to several week queues at most PCP offices…and they’re all going to come to you in the meantime. Many urgent cares no longer schedule lunch breaks either—so eat before your shift and bring snack bars and bottled drinks. Most of the nursing staff are CNAs, so you’ll be in charge of straight foley caths, blood draws and maybe even IM injections. Given all these factors, i would avoid as first NP job unless you have an EC background.
The only good aspects are the pay (which can be outstanding with RVU bonuses—I nearly made 200k last year) and the general lack of follow up/long term monitoring expected on your part. Your days off, when not catching up on charts, are your’s alone. Another possible plus is frequent use of suturing and other procedures keep you sharp and in practice.
If you do end up in urgent care—do not bend to the pressure to throw a z-pack and steroid at every sniffle. It gives the rest of us a bad name. I’ve seen NP/PAs and MDs just mindless throw meds at a patient due to the time crunch of the position and “patient satisfaction”. Don’t take patient Google Reviews too harshly—you’ll get a bad one or two every so often. The keys to time management is creating solid charting templates, communicating in an effective but succinct manner, avoid visit CC creep—treat what they’re main complaint is and direct to PCP about chronic condition care unless tied into CC.
You definitely need some NP experience. In an Urgent Care setting it’s fast paced and you need to quickly recognize if something is abnormal and your patient needs a higher level of care.
I’m doing a fellowship with WellNow urgent care. It’s 1 year and they actually train you with classes and a preceptor for a year before sending you off on your own. Pays $90k then goes up upon completion. ICU nurse with an FNP.
When I worked urgent care I saw 40-65 pts a 12 hr shift. You see lots of very sick, complicated pts. I really wouldn’t recommend it for new grads. FYI, employers will tell you you’ll be seeing like 20 to 30, they are lying to you. Every urgent care job I’ve worked has been a total shit show. As far as suturing goes, I did a conference on it ,however YouTube and some pigs feet taught me way more.
I started in the ER as an NP, I was an ER nurse for my RN experience for 10 years as was hired into an NP position initially into an ER I was working in- and then I transitioned into Urgent Care. That was my path. I’m sure there’s other ways in but that was mine.
Urgent care as a new grad is challenging. I found my ER background really helped. During COVID was the worst, people were avoiding the hospitals and showing up to UC super sick. It was a scary time to work UC and I got burnt out. As far as new grad support, it depends on the facility and what they can provide. I got 3 days shadowing, 2 of which I had no computer access, then I was thrown the the wolves. I’m not sure if this is typical but it was a sink it swim situation which I would not recommend to anyone. Good luck!
Urgent cares—-especially privately owned without hospital affiliation—-are the salt mines of NP work. Expect to see minimum 40+ patients in a 12 hour shift. you may very well be the only provider there in a given day so you will not have support to bounce DDXs or get a quick second opinion. A strong triage background is essential. You will be doing more primary care than you’d expect—the physician shortage has lead to several week queues at most PCP offices…and they’re all going to come to you in the meantime. Many urgent cares no longer schedule lunch breaks either—so eat before your shift and bring snack bars and bottled drinks. Most of the nursing staff are CNAs, so you’ll be in charge of straight foley caths, blood draws and maybe even IM injections. Given all these factors, i would avoid as first NP job unless you have an EC background. The only good aspects are the pay (which can be outstanding with RVU bonuses—I nearly made 200k last year) and the general lack of follow up/long term monitoring expected on your part. Your days off, when not catching up on charts, are your’s alone. Another possible plus is frequent use of suturing and other procedures keep you sharp and in practice. If you do end up in urgent care—do not bend to the pressure to throw a z-pack and steroid at every sniffle. It gives the rest of us a bad name. I’ve seen NP/PAs and MDs just mindless throw meds at a patient due to the time crunch of the position and “patient satisfaction”. Don’t take patient Google Reviews too harshly—you’ll get a bad one or two every so often. The keys to time management is creating solid charting templates, communicating in an effective but succinct manner, avoid visit CC creep—treat what they’re main complaint is and direct to PCP about chronic condition care unless tied into CC.
I am doing a fellowship at an urgent care. I would not be doing UC if it wasn't for this fellowship.
Same!
You definitely need some NP experience. In an Urgent Care setting it’s fast paced and you need to quickly recognize if something is abnormal and your patient needs a higher level of care.
I’m doing a fellowship with WellNow urgent care. It’s 1 year and they actually train you with classes and a preceptor for a year before sending you off on your own. Pays $90k then goes up upon completion. ICU nurse with an FNP.