Job description: Registry Nurse

A registry nurse is a qualified nursing professional employed on a flexible basis, often through staffing agencies or directly by healthcare facilities that require temporary nursing staff. A registry nurse may work in a variety of locations, including hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities.

I worked as a registry nurse in addition to my permanent hospital job to fill in available time with other assignments. As a registry nurse, I worked in-home care for pediatric and adult clients as a shift nurse, completed intermittent dressing changes, care plan review, and more. I also worked at a prison, an adult day care facility, as a school nurse for medically fragile children, other hospitals, conducted life insurance screening, escorted inmates from Hawaii to mainland prisons for transfer, setup medical equipment in remote patient homes for health monitoring, chronic illness teaching, setup phlebotomy clinics for the CDC, and more.

Registry nurses are different from a travel nurse in that they stay local and do not generally travel.

Nearly 45% of healthcare facilities reported increasing their use of registry nurses to address staffing shortages and manage rising patient demands. A registry nurse must be able to adapt to different environments fluidly.

Registry nurses will work in various environments including hospitals, schools, long-term care facilities, outpatient clinics, and prisons to name a few.

Hospital room equipped for patient care

PROS: A career as a registry nurse offers flexibility, varied nursing experiences, and higher pay in some areas. I worked at several different agencies concurrently because different agencies held different contracts. I had no obligation to work minimum hours or shifts. Some agencies offer same day pay. I was offered short-term projects for research that interested and challenged me.

CONS: There is a lack of continuity, lack of community with other nurses, and constantly adapting can be overwhelming. Health insurance and retirement plans are often limited based on their employment status

I chose to supplement my regular job with registry nursing and I enjoyed doing it. I had health insurance and benefits from my staff job, so that was not an issue for me. I did not feel like I had to hustle to keep working and I only accepted what I felt comfortable doing when I was available. I was able to experience exclusive opportunities such as travelling with inmates (one at a time, accompanied by armed sheriffs) for prison transfers from Hawaii to the mainland and setting up pop-up clinics for research. I also stepped up to acting Nursing Director for a short time during a transitioning period at one of the agencies I worked with. The experiences I received through registry nursing also helped me to create a separate pediatric specific nursing agency for medically fragile children with a team of pediatric nurses. I enjoyed being able to rely on my nursing skills in unique situations and be given the independence to figure out how to work things out.

I chose to do all of these experiences. Some nurses stick to filling in shifts at hospitals, clinics, and prisons - and that's OK too. It is nice to know how varied the world of Nursing can be. You have so many options and so many directions that you can go in your nursing career.

Be true to yourself...test the boundaries, or don't - you choose!