What Is an Outpatient RN and How to Become One

By ZipRecruiter Marketplace Research Team

An outpatient RN is a registered nurse who works with patients at an outpatient facility or ambulatory surgery clinic. Your duties in this position involve providing patient care and ensuring that patients recover from their procedures or treatments. You also educate patients on how to care for themselves at home. You may help assess patients and provide treatment or advice for a minor illness under the direction of a doctor. Outpatient patients do not stay overnight as they might in a hospital, so one of an outpatient nurse's primary responsibilities is ensuring that patients are fit to return home.

The qualifications that you need to become an outpatient RN include a nursing degree and a nurse’s license. An RN needs either an associate or bachelor’s degree in nursing. You then need to earn a nursing license from the state in which you plan to work. An RN may need specific skills and training to work in some outpatient facilities. For example, an ambulatory surgery center may seek nurses who have experience assisting on surgical procedures. As with any nursing career, you need excellent communication skills for interacting with patients and doctors.