About to graduate....telemetry? Advice please!

[cmarques]

Hello everybody!

I just recently interviewed at a local hospital....during the interview they asked which units, departments we preferred. Since I've thorougly enjoyed all of our clinical experiences so far and really have no particular preference right now I stated as much.

I received a call yesterday informing me that I was being offered a position in the telemetry float pool....I would essentially be floating among the three telem units at that hospital. The clinical manager stated that new grads generally aren't selected for these positions but due to the strength of my interview I was being selected.

My questions are these:

1) Since I'm so close to graduation, shouldn't I have a more clearly defined idea of what kind of nursing I'd like to go into? Many other people in my class have VERY specific ideas of what they want to do but I just can't decide.

2) I'm very excited about this position but I'm wondering what advantage it offers me over say a general med-surg unit?

Any advice/info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Christian

[DUCKGIRL]

don't worry about not having a clearly defined idea about the type of nursing you want to do...in fact I think it is better that you are open to all experiences! I don't think you have quite enough info in school to say without a doubt what you want to do forever....The great thing about nursing..you can always change your direction but still be a nurse!

Tele is fun...it is very technical but you will see patients with all kinds of health histories which will teach you so much...

[kcalohagirl]

First, congratulations!

I graduated last May and have been working on a telemetry unit since the beginning of June and I love it!

Depending on the type of tele floor you work on, experiences can be quite different. I work on a surgical tele floor, the patients i see are mainly S/P CABG and thoracotomies. My fiance works on a Medical tele floor, he sees EVERYTHING (and they happen to need tele, too.) *grin* So you stil get the med/surg experience, you just have something a little more technical to add to it.

As for knowing what you want to do. . . . .when I started interviewing, I wasn't completely sure. I'd only had experience w/ tele in my ICU rotation, and it was difficult for me to learn. But once it was learned, it stayed learned. *grin* I honestly had a better idea of where I *didn't* want to work than where I did. For example, I knew I would rather eat glass than work in orthopedics, rehab, or pulmonary.

Luckily, I got hired onto a completely fabulous unit, I am learning new things every day, and I work w/ great people!

As far as float. . . . .I was part of the med/surg float pool as my internship at the end of nursing school. It was a challenge, because you work with different patient populations every day. It is also interesting for that same reason. One thing that to keep in mind is that you are able to stay out of the "politics" of the different floors to a certain extent because you don't spend all your time on one single floor. On the other hand, some people miss having a "home" in the hospital. I enjoyed the weeks I spent floating. I learned a lot, and I was definitely never bored.

Hope some of this helped. It was long-winded, I know!