The pros and cons of different healthcare facilities

Healthcare is a field with risks as well as tremendous rewards -- which can vary dramatically based on the kind of facility where you work. Your days will probably be very different in a busy hospital with high patient turnover than they will in a nursing home where patients live for years, for example. Below we point out the pros and cons of working in several types of healthcare facilities. Whatever your particular healthcare occupation, a few factors are worth considering before you decide where to send your résumé.

Hospitals

Pros: A big pro is the pay. Salary and benefits tend to be more generous in hospital settings. Hospitals also offer more opportunities to advance than smaller institutions. You'll likely encounter a wider array of diseases and health problems among hospital patients, a plus if you crave intellectual stimulation. And because the patient population is larger, you'll be able to help more people -- the reason most healthcare workers choose the profession in the first place.

Cons: Hospitals are open around the clock, which means most workers have to work late or irregular hours. Shift work can be grueling, especially over the long term. And despite the rigorous hygienic standards of most hospitals, you will be exposed to more diseases. Your immune system might not be in fighting form if you're tired and under stress.

Doctors' offices

Pros: Doctors' offices allow you to focus on a particular medical specialty: internal medicine, radiology or ophthalmology, for example. For nurses and support staff, working in a doctor's office means regular hours. That's also true for some physicians, depending on specialty (obstetricians, for example, need to deliver babies outside regular working hours).

Cons: The pay tends to be lower than in hospitals or other large healthcare organizations, and the work can be more routine. Opportunities for advancement are fewer as well.

Urgent care centers

Pros: Urgent care centers, which provide non-emergency health services on a walk-in basis, are growing in number, according to the nonpartisan Center for Studying Health System Change. That may spell opportunity for healthcare workers who want the stimulation and variety of treating patients on a walk-in basis without the trauma and irregular hours of emergency rooms. And urgent care centers tend to be located in populous, affluent areas, so you'll probably go to work in a nice neighborhood.

Cons: Walk-in clinics don't give you the chance to focus on a specialty, and you won't get the chance to develop relationships with your patients over time. 

Nursing homes 

Pros: In acute care, patients come and go quickly; not so in nursing homes. Nurses and others who care for elderly and other patients can find this gratifying, according to Brad Wachter, owner of Senior Living Recruiters, Inc. "Senior living facilities allow nurses to develop deeper personal relationships with their patients," he says.

Cons: Working conditions in nursing homes can be very challenging. The pay tends to be low and the workload demanding. As a result, according to the National Institutes of Health, high turnover plagues the nursing home industry, with rates soaring past 100 percent in some occupations.