Is Nursing a Public Service Job or Not?

Is nursing a public service job

Nursing is not inherently a public service job. The definition of a public service job is when it isn’t for profit or is hired by the government.

Is nursing a public service job?

You as a nurse may operate on members of the government, but nursing isn’t a government job.

The definition may change depending on what company or organization you choose to work for, but typically this is not a public service job.

There are a ton of things that hospitals do for their own interest that would disqualify them from this definition.

It’s not something that’s a good or bad thing, it’s just something that happens to be the truth.

This may disqualify you from certain benefits or vacation days, but this also means the hospital has more freedom to take care of you if they choose to do so.

Though there are many rules and regulations that nurses and the hospital have to comply with, they usually don’t work for the government.

If the hospital is owned privately, they get more freedom when it comes to their budget, and in some cases, the service is a lot better.

Related article: Can a Nurse Practitioner Have Their Own Practice?

You may be worried about this because you want to put “public service” on your resume but aren’t sure whether you should do so or not.

Maybe you had a partnership or program that collaborated with the government and choose to put that on your resume because of that experience.

In that case, most people wouldn’t have a problem with it being called public service.

Pin me on Pinterest!

Is nursing a public service job or not

Are nurses public servants?

In many cases, nurses are not public servants.

One o f the few exceptions where they would be a public servant is the military.

It would then be a nurse’s job to take care of infantry because they are being paid by the government.

Legally speaking many of the nurses who work in hospitals are not public servants.

See also: Where Do Nurse Practitioners Work?

Some people work at University hospitals, most of which have nothing to do with the government.

In these cases, they are owned by the school even if it’s public.

In some cases, politicians in Washington DC have designated Hospitals when they want people to make as fast of a recovery as possible.

Generally, Walter Reed is where they go when they want to make an immediate recovery, but even in cases like that, they wouldn’t be considered public servants.

If you are in the military working as a nurse then things are going to be a lot different in many cases.

It means you can still take care of civilians, but you need government clearance to do your job every day which is something that a local nurse who works in the country doesn’t need.

There are benefits to being a public servant and you will frequently see questions on government forms asking you if you happen to be one.

You are more likely to get days off and you will still be respected among your peers in the medical field.

Is nursing a government job?

Now that you know whether is nursing a public service job or not, it’s time to dive in a little deeper.

Is nursing a government job?

The general position of nursing is not a government job.

You have to comply with the laws for your state or country and make sure that you have a license but that doesn’t make it a government job.

A government job would be someone closer to the people that train nurses so that they one day get their license.

In many cases, nurses will work for private hospitals which gain the ability to have a lot of freedom from the government.

They have to make sure that they take care of the people that they hosting in the hospital, but all the guidelines are still there.

See also: How Can Nurses Improve Patient Outcomes?

Being in a private business means that the government has less control over how the hospital is run as well as being able to select the budgets for the hospital.

In these cases, the hospital is better to run because the people that take of it have to use their own resources to get the job done.

In the government, there are tons of resources that nurses who work there are given to better assist their patients.

Many people would say this is a good thing, but there are some cons when this is done with so much taxpayer money.

Though this is money that they acquired legally, the government doesn’t have the same incentives to maintain quality because they are guaranteed to get a new budget from taxpayers every year.

The people who work there do get paid better, but usually, the efficiency is down.

Conclusion: Is nursing considered public service?

Nursing is a great job and it’s one of the essentials of any culture in any society. There need to be workers in the medical field who are going to take care of people.

On the negative side, it is also seen as one of the most expendable positions in the medical field, and administrators will often treat you like you don’t matter.

When it comes to the status of your job, you may think of it as a public service or you being a public servant.

This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you’re looking for.

If someone were to would for the Red Cross organization and become a nurse that would make them a public servant.

Many of those organizations pay their employees a salary, but it’s not much when compared to an actual job.

See also: Do Nurses Make Good Money?

People also care about the status because it may qualify them for certain benefits when compared to other nursing positions.

If you’re in the military and act as a nurse, you will probably never have to worry about job security ever again.

You may have to worry about getting fired if you’re committing illegal acts or are straight up incompetent, but usually, you won’t have to worry about getting laid off because there is a really big budget.

See also: Can You Be a Nurse With a Felony?

In the long term, it may be better to work for a private hospital that has benefits and a 401K set up for you and the other nurses.

See also: Do Nurses Get Pensions?

The hospital isn’t going to need to spend as much which means you can be paid more and a higher number of vacation days.

Now you should know whether is nursing a public service job or not.

I’d appreciate if you could give this article a star rating. Thank you in advance!

Related articles of ours:

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 4.4 / 5. Vote count: 19

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

About Ida Koivisto, BSN, RN, PHN

Ida is both a registered nurse and public health nurse. Her passion is to provide as much valuable information about nursing to the world as possible. In her spare time from work and blogging, Ida loves to work out at the gym and spend time with relatives.