What specialty are you considering?

[daisygarten]

I feel like I learn of a new specialty every day-- I know some who's personal experiences draw them to a particular area of focus, but my top choices, I think are more related to my personality: Radiology, ICU, Med/Surg, and Cardiac all make the top of my list for their technical and critical demands.

[xamirot]

I would love to work in the ER, but eventually my goal is to become a primary care nurse practitioner.

[tenn_bsnstudent]

Post partum! Amazing amazing amazing. My total dream is post partum.

[MusicEMT]

ER/ICU/Trauma- since im an adrenaline junkie and I love the pressure and fast pace

or Psych since psych patients are a challenge to work with but its worth the challenge

or my third choice is geriatrics since I have alot of experience working with them and i love working with the elderly population, it gives me alot of satisfaction and a sense of respect

[ZeroNightskye]

Pediatrics because shockingly enough to my friends and family, I love kids. My second option is mental health because I have experience with it.

[Nici_StudentRN]

My mind was always stuck on L&D. If I were to stay in an office setting verses going to a hospital setting I would choose either Pediatric Pulmonology (my son has CF so this one is close to my heart) or an OB/GYN office.

Ultimately I would like to become a Women's Health NP and my office specialty would be pregnant and parenting adolescent girls, again this is something near and dear to me because I was a teen mom myself and I would choose a neighborhood in my city that desperately needs both the healthcare and the role model.

In the end, just like we're all finding out as we start school or advance through our program the options are endless. I have no idea where I will end up but I know that my heart will lead me to the right place.

[Nici_StudentRN]

In school you're trained as generalist but if you know where you'd like to end up then you can start by seeking out opportunities to do internships, take advanced courses, attend conferences, and the like. Of course there are plenty of departments that do not veer towards new grads because of the highly specialized nature of the patients needs but if they see that you're going above and beyond in seeking knowledge and experience outside of school you'd be surprised at who would be willing to take on a new grad.

That also depends on the area in which one lives or chooses to work. There are plenty of places that are in need of nurses in all fields and others that need very few nurses. More and more private physician offices are hiring less skilled workers (such as CNA/MA) and not as many nurses as they previously were but if you're a new grad and not demanding a lot of money and simply want the experience then again you may be surprised who hires whom.

I currently work as a CNA in a Family Medicine practice and I also worked as a CNA in a General Surgery practice. Every opportunity that I can I seek out on the job training, inservices, and I have attended a couple conferences with the NP in our office that are geared towards Women's Health, which is where I want to ultimately end up in my career. It is all about education, motivation, and resume building :) I've received an offer to stay on as an RN in the office where I currently work but I have not decided as of yet simply because I'd like to be in L&D or in OB/GYN over a Family Med setting.

[cjr2619]

I am open to any specialty really...I just want to work in a hospital when I'm out of nursing school. I do think about specialties a lot high because I am done with my pre reqs And waiting in a lottery for admittance into my school's nursing program. I will probably get a better

idea of what I want to do once I get to start my program. I have done a lot of volunteering on a post op floor and loved it. Right now I think I would like to start my career on a med/surg floor for a few years to build on my skills. Then, I'm pretty sure I would enjoy an oncology unit.