Advice on Nursing Specialities

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2015

Here's the thing- you can never know what specialty is for you until you try it. All nurses enter the field with an idea of what specialties will be "right" for them. By the end of their education, the great majority of them will have an interest in something completely different. I understand at this time your education has been outside of the nursing realm, so it will be primarily new to you. Rather than investing time and energy trying to nail down a career path now, give yourself some time to discover what nursing is all about, and the vast variety of possible specialties available to you. You may find yourself drawn away from maternal/child health and into an area you don't even yet know exists.

As with any job, there are pros and cons to each position, as each one has a different scope. Likewise, where you choose to work (hospital, birthing center, public health clinic, doctor's office, private practice, etc.) will affect the details of your profession. What is a pro to me may be a con to you depending on your personality and interests. You really need to spend some time shadowing these practitioners (again, once you have some clinical experience, you'll have a better idea of what you're looking for).

A Certified Nurse Midwife is an advanced practice nurse who is actively involved in the prenatal, delivery, and post partum periods. A WHNP focuses on health conditions related to women throughout the lifespan. There are programs that offer a combined CNM and Family Nurse Practitioner curriculum. Likewise there may be NPs that work for birthing centers or obstetric offices, though this will require checking individual locations.

Miss Infermiera2b, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2015

I would recommend shadowing a nurse practitioner to see what it's like, if that's possible for you.

One of my closest friends is a CNM and ARNP. She absolutely loved delivering babies and found it to be immensely fulfilling work. However...if she had to do it over again, she has said that she would've gone for something with more job security, like FNP. She got very lucky in that some great opportunities fell in her lap and she has an awesome job now, but she says that many CNMs are without work.