nursing, but not bedside nursing?

[AspiringRN27]

If I want to become a nurse but with no intention of doing bedside nursing and would rather work in a clinic or the community... is that a realistic expectation?

[dt70]

Well.....yes, I didn't misunderstand your terminology. Actually, with this post, I am certain I understood just fine. The thing is, it is rare to come out of nursing school and land one's ideal placement. I'm sure you know this too....but I think sometimes people do go in thinking "oh, I know I have to pay my dues, learn the ropes, etc before I get to do what I want" but the REALITY is, they oftentimes don't have the patience (or stamina?) to get through that learning curve period. I think it's a shame when I see people in the pre-nursing phase planning on what they are definitely going to do (and not do) after graduation, only to find that they would be pretty danged lucky to land ANY job. New grads who wanted sexy specialties like ED and ICU find themselves in LTC. "I want to work with babies!!!" students who are lucky if they land a job in med-surg anywhere.

It also strikes me as odd when people say "I'd like to have a specialty, not work med-surg". Hmmm.....after years of med-surg, I believe I see why it's a specialty unto itself: it is not for the faint of heart, and it is not for the weak-skilled. The "specialty" of med-surg is being able to do something of EVERYTHING, rather than "that's not my area of specialty" and hope someone else can figure out the problem. Just something to think about.

All I'm saying is, while it's absolutely possible to get what you want in the way of specialties, they aren't handed out upon graduation (don't we wish!!); after you prove what you're worth, and that you ARE worth something as a floor nurse, THEN you have more opportunities coming your way.

FWIW, I *thought* my psych rotation was going to be the neat/clean rotation, LOL, because we were told to wear street clothes to clinicals. Ah, yes, finally, no scrubs and no messy patients! ROFL....VERY FIRST THING walking in the door was a Feces Thrower---thankfully not MY assignment, but let me tell ya, a classmate of mine was NOT clean in short order

Well, they have clean scrubs hanging in the closet to be thankful for.