Did I go the wrong route?

[McKMM]

Hello! I’ll try to make this straight to the point. After graduation, I didn’t go the typical med surg/PCU route. I did a few things (ER, behavioral health, post Surg) and am now at a specialty clinic. I hate my current job but feel as though if I went to bedside I’d need lots of training/retraining. I live in a place with very few opportunities so going from place to place isn’t easy and your reputation (if you have one) follows you. I don’t mean to offend anyone but did I fail early on in my decisions? I’d be a horrible med surg nurse and I know it so I avoided that. Was I wrong? Am I not marketable? Am I limited now? Thanks! 

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

Why would you be limited? You did ER which is like med surg on steroids with some ICU thrown into the mix. 

What is it about your job that makes you unhappy? Find out that first before thinking about jumping ship. But I guarantee you going to a med-surg floor will not be a grass is greener situation as that specialty has some of the highest turnovers in nursing.

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

Sounds like you’ve had an impressive and diverse career. I can’t imagine why you would think that was a bad thing. I mean, I guess if you really want to get into med-surge now, it might be hard because you have no med-surge experience. But that’s not “making a mistake”, that’s just a different career path that you didn’t do. 

[McKMM]

Thank you both for responding!

PrincessBride I can't figure out how to respond to your comment so I'll do it here. I am currently at an outpatient clinic doing cardiac testing. It kind of is mundane and there's no opportunity for advancement or further learning. So I feel stuck and plateaued. 

CommunityBSN-I really don't think I've done anything impressive. I have only been a nurse for about 4 years now. I really am not interested in med surg but it seems to be the stepping stone to other bedside jobs. 

I really don't know what to do and feel pretty low about myself/nursing. I feel like if I looked back on what I've done when I'm older then I'd be pretty disappointed. Again, not dogging on anyone at all so please I hope no one takes offense to this. thank you for all of the responses!