Respond if you found a decent niche after hating your first positions

realnursealso/LPN, LPN · Jun 13, 2008

:up:High tech Pediatric homecare is my thing.I've learned alot over the years. I've cried at times when my patients died, and gave alot of mom's and dad's hugs too. I've made lifelong friends with my patient's families. At times I felt I should get a job at a facility, but I'd miss my kids. My first vent patient is now 28, I started taking care of him when he was 8. I call him my "original brat", and he grins from ear to ear. I haven't taken care of him in a few years, but I visit him often. So I guess my place, my niche, is my kids:redbeathe. Oh, I forgot, at first I worked my 2 years in med-surg, in a small hospital. And for 2 years after that I worked in a nursing home. But my heart is with my kids.

nursecoachUK · Jun 13, 2008

I found my niche in paeds (UK). cute patients, lots of variety - babies and teens, teaching, helping, caring and talking about music and movies to the teens was great!

Take a look at the sort of roles you have liked - do you like fast pace or slow? Working alone or in a team, in one place or moving around?Who do you love to care for? What do you do outside work -could there be a link there?

Nursing has so many parts that you could do -there are lots of areas that you could just loooove!

Have fun

Claire:D

MaryAnn_RN · Jun 13, 2008

Found my niche in ICU, absolutely love being able to give holistic care, plus am an adrenaline junky. Anything else would be second best now.

gonzo1, ASN, RN · Jun 13, 2008

Found my niche in the ER I work in now after bad experience at first hospital I went to after graduation.

Love where I am now, and have been branching out doing some agency and travel and am liking that to.

Lots of places for all of us. We just have to find it.

Remember, it is the journey that counts, not the finish line

tatarn2b2007 · Jun 13, 2008

I did a few months on a busy surgical floor with a high turnover rate. I absolutely hated that job. Now I am in critical care and love it. There are nights where I want to cry, but I have not cried yet. I was crying at least once a week in my old job. My advice to people who hate their jobs is to find something you enjoy. I know, easier said than done. Don't let someone tell you what to do. If you feel you can't take it one more minute, DON'T take it one minute longer. Don't give up.

guest83140 · Jun 13, 2008

Worked a total of 20 years in orthopedic, and then trauma/neurology floors. I liked it at first until the accurity went up after 5 years. Then it was bread and butter. Went back 10 years ago and got my BSN and went into School Nursing (in 2005 after I got my foot in the door real good) ,and I love it! Because my 1st years in High School I wanted to be a Secretary and my last years in High School I wanted to be a nurse. A School Nurse fits the bill- I love nursing and I have my own desk. The added pluses are of course the Summers, Holidays and Weekends Off!

catlvr · Jun 13, 2008

My first job was at a drug recovery house; loved the clients and the work, but the environment was very unsafe and the organization unwilling to follow any recommendations, so I left with many regrets. I really wanted to help these women and their children on their journey to a better life.

Second job was as a med nurse at a psych hospital. Again, loved the patients, but was bored witless - our med pass took the entire day and there was little time for quality interaction. The LPN role was very limited, and that was frustrating; the RNs would complain that they were the "only nurse" on the unit while and LPN was sitting next to them in report.

Now I work at in long term care that also has a short stay rehab floor, and this is the perfect place for me. I am using my nursing skills and learning a lot.

Keep looking for your spot, and you will find it!

e

gt4everpn, BSN, RN · Jun 14, 2008

I'm an LPN so here in NYC its mostly LTC which I don't hate (too strong a word) but I'm fresh outta school and want to exercise all that hardcore nursing stuff but cannot. seriously all I do is try to make em poop get chased down by and threatned by families plus incident reports for skin tears and falls wanderers. bang out meds to 40 pts + dressings GT feedings. I feel more like a babysitter than a nurse at times. I'm dying to get out of LTC for right now it works financially and timewise seeing that I'm in school but the measely $23/hr in NYC barely makes up for the pressure mgmt has put on us they ve already cut staff and our paychecks are always missing $$$. boy this post sure has turned into a vent lol. Critical care here I come just 2 more years!!!!!!!

kythe, LPN · Jun 14, 2008

I started off in a fast paced, short staffed nursing home where I had a clinical rotation. LPN's are usually in long-term care and I assumed it would be a good place for a new grad. I ended up hating it and not doing well there. I left voluntarily after only 4 months, but was frustrating to me because I felt like I tried so hard to succeed and I really wanted my first job to last at least a year for experience.

However, I found another job that I loved and that was higher paying, too. I now work through an agency and go to group homes for the developmentally disabled. I've developed skills I would have never needed in a nursing home and I enjoy the personal environment where I can get to know my patients. My confidence in myself has increased greatly since I have really thrived in this environment. I still plan to go back to school for RN, but may continue in the group home setting (possibly by moving to management) or go into home health care after getting the necessary experience in a hospital.