[sunnydaydream]

Ahhh prepare for a vent!!

I'm approaching the last semester of our ASN program and will be graduating in December!! I mean seriously December... that's like less than five months and I seriously don't know what I want to do with my degree or where I want to work for that matter! Everyone seems to have an idea about where they want to work and what department they would be interested in and I seriously don't think that I have any idea. I have only found one other person that is already a nurse say that when they graduated they just wanted to be a nurse! That they were unsure of where they wanted to work, but knew that the profession was right for them.... That's me!! I have no clue. I *think* that I am interested in Neuro, but have yet to experience anything (I will be working on getting some outside observation to see if I am interested), but in all reality I have no clue... The school and the hospitals around here are telling us that we should apply for jobs starting September that's that two months away!!

--Seriously just having a bit of a mental breakdown at this moment! I thought getting to the end of the program would be the best part about graduating *now* there's soo many unknowns I'm not so sure!! (I bet I'll be changing my tune though when I am "officially" a nurse!!)

Hope everyone is having a great summer!!

[KrysyRN]

Sorry to hear about your frustrations!

My friend just graduated this past Spring, and she also wasn't sure where she wanted to work. She went to hospital job fairs for nurses in her area and talked to some nurse recruiters, as well as nurse managers of different specialty units. She was able to ask questions about the units, tour them, and meet the nurses that worked on them. She found a specialty area with a nursing staff that "clicked" with her, and it was not a unit she had even considered in the past (an ICU). She's really pleased she went this route and is loving her choice and her co-workers.

Maybe going to job fairs and touring different specialty units is something you might want to consider??

[sunnydaydream]

Don't get me wrong though! I am excited and so so so *SO* happy that I'm getting ready to graduate and move onto a new portion of my life. There's just so many unknowns and that's what's making me nervous!!

[carolinapooh]

Don't feel lonely. I will finish my ABSN program on December 8 (who's counting, right?). Today we got our pre-preceptorship briefing and were given all the different floors and hospitals that are available. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I went and talked with one of my favorite instructors, who asked me some really helpful questions during our conversation. These are the ones I can remember us talking about:

What did you like about your clinical experiences so far?
What did you NOT like?
What do you think your strengths are? Your weaknesses? What would you like to work on during your preceptorship skillswise?
What hospital type interests you - academic medical center or community hospital? (I'm at Duke, so we have access to the three hospitals in the Duke system and three others - a small community hospital a couple of counties away, UNC-Chapel Hill/North Carolina Memorial Hospital, and Rex Hospital in Raleigh)
What patient populations interest you, and which ones turn you completely off?
What acuity are you comfortable with?
Do you like patients that are conscious or unconscious?
Do you find it easy to talk to family members?
What kind of environment do you feel you work best in - a slower pace, or a fast hectic pace like in an ED?
Do you want to know your patients, like you can on a medical floor, or would you prefer to work in an environment with higher patient turnover, like a surgical floor?
And finally - what area of medicine really gets you excited? Cancer? Neonatology? Bariatric medicine? General Medicine or Surgery? Whatever the area is, it might give you a clue as to what areas you might want to work in.

I am going to go talk to two more instructors that I really admire (and value their opinions - AND feel they respect me and will be honest with me) over the next week before I put down my three choices. The conversation today was very valuable to me and I'm already narrowing my selections.

Find an instructor you trust and talk it out with him or her. Even think about the above questions in private - I thought she asked great questions and I found them really helpful. One thing she told me when I went into her office was that I should celebrate the fact that I'm not really sure at this point - she said that even though it sounds funny, it opens so many opportunities for me to stay open minded and find where I belong. She also said that being unsure does not make me "wrong" - it makes me flexible and curious and open-minded.

Don't worry. I thought I knew what I wanted to do when I went into this program. I'm interested in so many things now - it's hard to decide. You'll get there - I promise. After talking to her today I already feel better myself.

Good luck and keep us posted; I'll also let you know where I decide to go.

[Daytonite]

I would encourage you to attend as many nursing job fairs as you can find and question the various recruiters that are there about what the various nursing units are like. It's safer to discuss your indecision about this at a job fair then when you actually submit an application and go for an interview.

One of my early jobs was on a neuro unit. This is basically head and spinal. We had patients who were various head injuries and post-op craniotomy and spinal surgery. I saw every kind of seizure a patient can have. We had patients who were in for observation with contusions and concussions--an interesting bunch. We gave a lot of anticonvulsant medication and IV Decadron or Mannitol to reduce swelling. Many times, a good many of our head injuries were discharged to Rehab units for intensive rehabilitation if there had been motor damage as a result of their brain damage.