Going To Nursing School

Nurses General Nursing

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I just found out the date I can go set up my classes for next semester. These will be my first nursing classes--I've been doing pre-reqs for a year. Been getting a little jittery about it!

Several people in my pre-reqs are nursing majors--and have the intention of being "only" (insert unit here) nurses.I have always seen myself in L&D--even though I have no real idea what that is like, but who does before they actually get there. It has just always been an interest of mine. Now that I am getting to do some job shadowing I'm seeing more of other units and how appealing they may/may not be. I did enjoy my time in OB but now that I've seen a little bit other places are starting to appeal to me. But is it "wrong" to go to nursing school with the idea of working only in one area? Or should nurses be really open to working in several areas?

Specializes in Nurse Anesthesia, ICU, ED.

Congrats on your acceptance.

My advice is to leave yourself open to the clinical experiences.

Specializes in ICU, CCU, Trauma, neuro, Geriatrics.

Go to nursing school with whatever dream is yours, its your life and your career. Make the best of it and dont let anyone else change what is yours. You might find you like something else better but don't feel that you need to change your passion. Your mind will be peeled open and injected with knowledge you never imagined was available, remain open for that, keep your passion. Should your passion change with each rotation in clinicals or remain the same.. no difference, it is your education and your career; make the best of the classes and clinicals offered to you as that will help you in the future. Welcome to the awesome world of nursing.

Honestly my goal for my career in nursing is to end up in NICU and/or L&D. I have always always wanted to be a nurse in those two specialties.

But, I am going with an open mind. I do know from previous expereinecs that there are units I WILL not work, the burn unit being one of them. Other than that I do have a "final" destination in mind NICU/L&D but have no problems leaving my options open along with an open mind about other departments etc.

I don't think its wrong to enter school with the plan of going into a certain department. But don't be surprised that a department you never thought of becomes your nitche'

I see us going in with a certain unit in mind no different than a person who wants to be a teacher who only wants to teach high school, or Math, or grammer school art..etc.

That's one of the good things about nursing. If you have an intrest in an area, do it. Just because you may start in OB after you graduate, and then decide you don't like it. It doesn't mean you can't change. You will develop critical thinking and skills that will help you on down the line. I've found after many years of nursing, a change once in a while is good. It keeps me up on a large base of skills in the ever changing world of medicine. Just try not to fret too much about it. Go to school, learn and observe. Good luck to you.

Specializes in ICU.

I went to school with the idea that I only wanted to work in L&D, mat/child. What I discovered during school is that I LOVED medicine more. I'm working adult medicine now and I love it to death. I've never been more challenged. I am looking to progress to ICU in the next year or so, however.

You should go in with a goal, definitely, but keep your options open, as you may discover you like something else, or employment opportunities vary. I'd have to say when I started nursing school a quick survey of the students showed that about 50% wanted L&D (and similar) and close to 50% wanted ER. LOL, by the time we were done, our goals had changed drastically. It's fair to say we didn't all end up in L&D and ER.

I actually find myself wanting to work med/surg. In a way, I feel like I shouldn't want to because no one else does. Of course, I don't start nursing school until this March, so who knows. :confused:

Specializes in Orthopedics.

many things are going to happen throughout your student career that are completely unexpected, and most likely you will not end up working where you first envisioned yourself. if i were you i would not worry about where you are going to be working in 2 years because you are about to go through the hardest 2 years of your life. it takes time and dedication to get to the position where you have the option to decide where you are going to work. hopefully i did not burst your bubble. good luck in school.

I want to work in the emergency department. I have since day one and every experience I've had so far in nursing school and in clinicals has reinforced that desire. I love the pace, the craziness, the unpredictability.

I thought I might work med-surg for a bit to "pay my dues" as they say but the more I spend time in clinicals the more I know I don't want to do anything other than emergnecy or trauma. It's what I was born to do, I honestly belive that.

However, if anything else HAD piqued my interest I certainly would have been open to it, just nothing has and I really doubt anything will.

I also worked as an EMT before nursing school, so I was already geared in that direction. I like med-surg and I'm learning tons, it's just too slow a pace for me in the long term.

Specializes in Oncology, radiology, ICU.

When I started nursing school I truly thought I want to work in pediatrics. When the clinical rotations for peds finally arrived I realized that I didn't really like it. I graduated in December and at that time I took a position in a med/surg fellowship and I love it so far. It's not perfect but I don't expect any job to be. My best advice is to keep an open mind and follow your heart, you know what will be in your best interest. And to the Turtlesoup, there is nothing wrong with med/surg or wanting to go into med/surg. There are many specialties within med/surg that you can choose from. My fellowship offered positions in medical, surgical, neuro, ortho, womens health, skilled nursing, and oncology.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, MNICU.

I say you should focus on your primary area, but be very open minded about others. I thought I would love L&D, but it wasn't a great experience and I found that I liked other areas more, particularly NICU and peds. I thought I would never work with adults until my former NICU started having some real problems and the peds area wasn't desirable either. I'm now working in adult ICU and surprisingly, I'm enjoying it! You never know what is ahead in your life, so always stay open to new possibilities. Good luck!

I'm in my first semester of nursing school (havent even started clinical rotations yet) but I have always had a vision of working in the OR or ER. I like the OR because I would love to see a surgery from start to finish and I like the ER because I like the idea of going to work not knowing exactly what to expect that day. I like the crazyness that goes on in the ER. But who knows, I may just change my mind once clinical rotations start. So, I'm keeping an open mind.

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