what's the best area/specialty to go in to for new grads

RunBabyRN · Apr 23, 2014

Med/surg is highly recommended for new grads, especially if you don't have other prior experience and don't have your heart set on a specialty for your career. It's a great place to be exposed to a variety of patients, to build your skills and knowledge base, and to make connections and see other areas you may want to get into with time.

Depending on your state and job market, with an ADN, you may find it challenging to find hospital work, and may end up in a non-acute setting (home health, LTC, etc), but experience is experience, and with the market the way it is, the best kind of job is the one you can get. Apply to as many positions as you can feasibly do, and utilize any connections you've made along the way.

Good luck!

Gentleman_nurse, MSN · Apr 23, 2014

These days? The one that offers you a job!

Ash1121 · Apr 23, 2014

Med surg for sure. A few years on that floor as a new nurse will be very beneficial. Med surg is all about prioritization. From there, you can take the skills and knowledge you've gained to another floor if you chose.

Nurse Kyles, BSN, RN · Apr 25, 2014

Anywhere you can get a job is good. I think med-surg or telemetry is a good place to start. You can basically get a job anywhere with some telemetry experience. My former coworkers have moved on to positions such as critical care, emergency, maternity, cath lab, angiogram recovery, and resource nursing.

adpiRN · Apr 25, 2014

I would say whatever you're interested in and get hired in : )

I don't really buy into the whole mandatory year in med-surg for new nurses.

I've known nurses who took a med-surg job because they thought they should, HATED it, burnt out, and never returned to floor nursing.

I've also seen posts here from nurses who really want L&D or Peds but had trouble getting a job, because their experience was just med-surg. So med-surg experience doesn't always translate well to other specialties.

I really wanted L&D so I pursued it and got hired as a new grad. I'm happy I did.

I really have no desire to ever work med-surg.

calivianya, BSN, RN · Apr 25, 2014

If you have a passion, apply hardest for that! Being a new grad nurse is hard enough without working in a unit that you really don't like. You will learn more and your transition will probably be easier if you at least like what kind of floor you are working on.