What do you guys think? If you are a nurse especially one in a doctors office do you think you lose your nursing skills when compared to a nurse in a hospital. Sort of like becoming a secretary?

I don't think nurses ever lose their skills in the field, in an office, in a hospital. In Canada we have Victoria Order of Nurses who work in the community, basically in the field and would not have a job if they lost their skills.

When I go to my doctors office the nurses are the ones that book my appointment, pull my file, call me into the room, pass me the cup for a urine sample. They are more secretaries than nurses, even though they have a nursing degree.

Do they lose their skills? Not sure. But I know that they don't really do what they were trained to do. At least not in my family doctors office.

In my location most hospitals employ RNs where as doctors offices employ LPNs.

As an RN myself, I feel that I would lose my skills by moving to an office. There are 2 different skill sets involved here. Office vs hospital. Most offices don't start IVs, just for one example. Hospital nurses are also trained to take care of the more critically ill than you will find in a doctor's office, so our critical thinking skills would not be utilized to the fullest in an office vs hospital.

And, lastly, the pay and benefits at a hospital are usually better than those provided by offices.