when do you declare a specialty

[bs98241]

when do you declare a specialty- can you do it as an rn with a 2 year or do you have to have a bachelors

[nurse.sandi]

Every nurse is special. However, a speciality could mean a certification, for IE, stroke, or ER, ICU. Certification tests usually cost money. Most nurse practioners specialize.

[Vanillanut, DNP, RN, APRN]

I declared my specialty after doing a post-grad certification in ER (which came in the form of 6 months more school, after my BSN).

From what I know you can declare your specialty after you've passed this exam (same as KTlitz said).

Being special and having a specialty are two different things

[TinyHineyRN]

I'm a Certified Pediatric Nurse....I guess I "declared" a specialty in Peds. My first job out of nursing school was as a staff nurse on a general Peds floor. Now I work in the Peds ICU. While my department has changed, my pt population hasn't.

And, by the way, I don't have a BSN....just your run of the mill ADN!

[juliaann]

I like that scene in one episode of The Office where Michael yells, "I declare bankruptcy!!!"

I'm totally going to do that when I find the area I want to work in once I finish nursing school.

[Harrychandler]

You can get a certification. I think the certification board is ANCA?? My place of employment gives raises for a specialty cert

[ObtundedRN, BSN, RN]

Many programs (BSN, not sure about ASN or diploma) have an internship your final semester. Generally, you get to choose the specialty you want to do your internship in.

Just thought I'd answer this, yes, ADN and diploma programs do an internship too.

And for the OP: You can say that your specialty is whatever type of nursing you work in. Med/surg, ICU, telemetry, LTC, oncology, etc. That is your specialty while you work in that area, but you don't have to declare it as your "specialty" and only ever work in that area. You can always change specialty by changing jobs. As for certifications, you can get that after working in a specialty area and meeting the requirements to take the exam. Having that certification says you have experience, and proved that you have added knowledge to that specialty. But just because you have your specialty certification in L&D, doesn't mean you can't change jobs to ICU and that be your new specialty.

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

My mommy declared I was special after I ate all those paint chips.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

You don't "declare" a specialty in nursing. You work, you find things that interest you and things that don't, you gravitate towards the ones you like, and one day you wake up and realize you're a (X) nurse.

Of course, you should realize that life happens, and you might not always be a (X) nurse. I was a critical care clinical specialist with a master's and then the small hospital where I had my last critical care job closed my department. Long story made short, I went to a totally different specialty at age 43 (case management/rehab/insurance consultant), and took a few years earning a whole new set of certifications and then honing my craft at them. I am now an independent business owner in legal nurse consulting and life care planning, and haven't set foot in a hospital as a bedside caregiver in 17 years. You just never know.

As a sidebar, though, I wonder if you are a nursing student asking about declaring a specialty as an undergraduate. The answer is no-- while your program may offer you an opportunity or two to have some clinical experience in a specialty area, every nursing student takes pretty much the same general coursework, because the accrediting agency for nursing schools has strict standards about what constitutes a basic nursing education, and that's what you get as an undergraduate. You don't declare a major like, oh, English lit. Your undergraduate major is nursing, period.

My estimate is that 95% of incoming students plan to be in peds or OB :), but of course they take more than half of their clinicals in medical / surgical adult nursing, and lesser amounts in OB and pediatrics. We'd be in deep doo-doo if all students went to peds/OB. I'm too old to need care in either department when I get sick.

[Guest717236]

This is trick question:jester: Sometimes a specialty declares you. I once found myself in a specialty I would not have chosen.

In a very tight job market (sound familiar?), it was a full time job with benefits.

I stayed in that specialty for 7 years.

Nursing is a journey, so be open to many avenues and

you may find you will enjoy many areas of nursing over the span of your career....

Best wishes!