[INFJ]

Thanks to the OP for the words of encouragement! I will graduate (Lord willing) in May 06. I want to start in L&D or NICU. Many people keep telling me what many of you have also heard, "med surg experience to start out". I am glad that you went with your heart and it paid off! Your post helped give me a boost of confidence to remember to be true to myself and where I want to go!!!

Yay for you!!! Amy

[roxannekkb]

Good for you. I would have lasted about 10 minutes in med-surg. But yet, that was the advice that my instructors dished out, as though it was a Biblical prophesy. And most of my classmates listened to it, repeating the mantra that "I have to go to med-surg to get the skills." I went directly to NICU, and stayed there until I left nursing. Only one classmate that I know of also dared buck the status quo and went to work at a burn ICU.

[oldnurse newnurse]

I want to s[ecialize in medical ICU what do you guys think? and when interviewing what should I say when they ask why ICU?

[NurseDiva76]

Another "success" with specializing immediately here: I went straight from college to a Pediatric ER and was in heaven. I have since branched out to trauma ER, acure care ER, fasttrack ER, and the cardiac emergency/stroke ER and can float freely back and forth between all the sections of our emergency room.

I'm never bored, I LOVE my job, if I get too burned out with a bad week in one section, I just go to work in another one for a couple of days. I usually work four twelves per week, so being happy at work is a must!

I got really, really lucky. ER is my niche...I will never work anywhere else. I don't ever seeing burnout as being a problem. Now, my poor little body might give out on me, but I will always be excited to go to work.

[nunurs05]

That's good to hear! So, are you flexible working between a pediatric and adult emergency room?

[NurseDiva76]

Yes, I am. Peds ER is my first love (I did strictly Peds for four years), but I didn't want to get pigeonholed into that one area. I knew I was deficient in my adult trauma and cardiac skills, so when my husband and I moved to another city, I deliberately chose a hospital that had adult and specialty ER's. I started orienting in those "scary" sections for a few hours a week at first, then gradually built up to entire shifts in the other sections. Now I charge in those areas. I've been at the hospital I work at for almost three years now, and feel very confident in my abilities. That is to say, if I were to leave my facility and apply for a position in a strictly Peds ER, or Level I trauma center, I don't think I would have any trouble sliding right in.

So take heart.. Not all of us are destined for MedSurg. Last winter the entire hospital was full, and the DON decided to open a "transition unit" on an unused wing to clear the ER and hold the admits until some medsurg/telemetry beds opened up. I volunteered to be pulled and work up there a couple of nights. NEVER again. I know I bugged the heck out of my patients. I was used to the fast pace of the ER, and it was very boring for me. I couldn't wait for 4am to come around so I could do labs and morning assessments!

[nunurs05]

Thanks for sharing your experience with me/us. I also worked in a peds er and loved it! That was before I graduated from nursing school. Now that I'm done I'm really torn. I know that I should get adult experience but enjoy working with the kids.

[Q.]

Congrats!!!

I also was a new grad who "dared" to specialize and was hired into Labor and Delivery right out of school. It has only helped my career and I don't think that I've missed anything by not doing "my time" in Med/Surg.

Congrats again!!!

[L&DNurseDonna]

I'm so happy for you! I too plan on going into Labour and Delivery, and have also been told not to specialize right out of school, and do a few years in med/surg. But when you have a passion in something, that's ALL you want to focus on. I get so discouraged when I think that I might have to do a year or two in med/surg! I really need to get L&D experience because I plan on getting my midwifery in a few years. Thankfully, I've already been offered a job in L&D, so I don't have to worry about being forced into med/surg.

[splunking]

I've been getting a lot of the same advice and I am not even in the nursing program yet, just the pre-req's. I know I will want to be in Labor and Delivery. It is my ideal, I just did a job shadow at a smaller hospital, and I absolutely loved it. I would like to shadow at a larger hospital, to see the differences, but I can't wait to get started.

Thank you for your story!