Does your specialty fit your personality?/Why did you choose your specialty?

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My name is Katherine and I'm 25 years old. I graduate college with a Bachelors in Fine Arts, specifically Sculpture using fibers and metal and Glassblowing. I've always loved art, but I've always been fascinated by science and medicine more. I recently had surgery on my left bicep, the belly of the muscle had been severed more than 50% otherwise known as a high grade bicep tear. The whole process of getting injured then getting repaired and now recovering has taken me away from my job making high end handmade glass chandeliers for hotels and casinos. Truth be told I couldn't be happier, or more interested in my daily routine. So I've decided to make a career change, but haven't quite decided what medical field I'm more interested in.

I was wondering why people in the nursing field chose the specialty they're in. Why did you think that would be a good career path for you? Are you happy or are you looking for a change to? Does your specialty fit your personality? Or was it the people, the work, the science, the money, the location, the availability, your home life? Or was it the interest, the excitement, the fascination, the work environment, the advancement opportunities, or the possibility for discovery? Did you just like the idea of helping people, is it as rewarding as you thought or is it just pure love of your career?

Thanks,

Katherine

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Dear Katherine,

My other degree is Comparative Literature. Today I am an ER NURSE. Service to the people, compassion, community, love for the undeserved and underprivileged, love for people is what guided my decision to become an ER nurse. The job matched other traits of my personality, such as proactivity, willingness to help at all times, and being able to multitask and "think on my feet." Oh yes, I am also an avid walker....and have trouble sitting still since childhood.

Take a heart, your story is worth more than a thousand words,

Search and it will find you. I decided to be a nurse for the security of the job...and fell right in love. I love to go to work. I love to travel. Money helped but only a little.

Big hugs Happysouth

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

If your injury prevents you from your previous employment, you may want to think long and hard before you enter a field such as nursing. We lift heavy patients everyday, and you may want to consider that.

I went into nursing because I wasn't sure what else to do, I had always wanted to help people. In high school I had participated in some clubs which did community service and I had an interest in health and was great at math and science. So, it seemed to fit. I did my LVN first partially to see if I wanted to make the commit to become an RN. I like the variety, currently there are few opportunities in nursing, but it's the same for many other jobs.

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Nick,

My injury shouldn't be a problem, I should make a full recovery after PT. Plus I'm a part-time fitness and dance instructor so I should be ok, but thank you for the valid point. I really appreciate that honesty in reference to the hard labor involved in the nursing field.

~Katherine

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Specializes in Peds Medical Floor.

How do you get into making high end glass chandeliers for hotels? That sounds interesting.

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Dizzy,

I took a glassblowing class the last semester of college and just thought it was awesome. I interned for my professors friend for about 6 months, then moved up the ladder. I've worked all over the east coast for myself and other artists making just about anything. Just before the accident I was a starter and gaffer for a team that created 3 full ceilings of glass, 3 very large center piece chandeliers and two floor to ceiling walls of large scale glass vessels and 140 handmade wine bottle for the Philadelphia Parx casino that recently opened. It's a cool field, lot of history and a neat skill but it's male dominated, hard on the body and unrewarding.

~Katherine

P.S. There are hot shops all over the country that offer classes, check around your area if your interested, I recommend furnace work over flame working.

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Specializes in Psych, EMS.

Hey there. I went into nursing because I thought it would be my quickest route to moving to and surviving in NYC, which I am obsessed with. I thought, hey, in 1 year (accelerated bsn) I will have another degree, and a job with decent pay and job security. Ha! Several hospitals shut down in nyc while I was in nursing school, flooding the market with nurses. Supply > demand there.

So here am I in Houston. My specialty is psych, and I love it. I was lucky to discover my niche during nursing school. It fits me because my previous degree is psychology. Also, in nursing school I found med/surg to be very task oriented. In psych it's more process oriented. I want to stay in mental health, but probably not as a nurse. I've never wanted to be a nurse, it was just a practical decision and I always intended it to be a temporary job.

So that's my story and specialty. Hope you find yours, and much happiness in nursing :nurse:

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Specializes in pediatric critical care.

My original major in school was Fashion Design and Merchandising. I took a very long road to get here, and now I work as an RN in a PICU, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Peds is really the only thing I love, it suits my personality. The critical care part was a surprise to me, and I have found a new passion. Follow your heart, I think you'll find what suits you as well.

As a sidenote, you have a passion to want to work with people, and a great degree in fine arts. Ever think about art therapy, working with those who have a need to heal spiritually, whether from abuse/neglect, traumatic experience, mental illness, etc. Just an option I thought I'd throw at you.

Good luck in whatever you do!

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Specializes in chemical dependency detox/psych.

Just a question: What specifically can't you do with your old job? Is it fine motor-skill type of work?-- because you have to be able to do that with nursing.

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Specializes in future OB/L&D nurse(I hope) or hospice.

Hey Goldengirl, if you do not want to be a nurse, what are your plans for the future?

OP: your previous job sounds amazing and something I am sure you have enjoyed. But the heart tends to take control sometimes and you begin to "crave" a new avenue in life. I have worked for the same company for over 20 years, but my heart has always wanted to do nursing. So I am now 2 pre-req classes away from applying to the nursing program. I can't wait. Good luck with your decision.:)

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

I guess I should talk about my department then. I went into ICU because I wanted a challenge. I knew I was smart, and I feel I could handle more specific knowledge involving drips, chemistry, and such because I had good time management skills already. Not stating that other departments lack my level of knowledge, just saying that it's different. I have worked in a variety of settings and liked most of it. I loved working in a disabled adult group home, but I think it was pretty easy. I worked with a lot of incompetent people, but management had their favorites regardless. One girl had scored highest on their entrance test and she was thought of as "really smart." But she let a patient walk around with a broken foot for a week and lost her job, proving that her "smartness" didn't necessarily translate in her work. I also worked in a college university health center, absolutely my favorite job ever, but again, not much of a challenge, but definitely a great environment and good benefits.

I love having 3 12's, I love multitasking and having to think about different aspects of things. I make mistakes, but I enjoy learning from then and the ever-continuing educational aspects.

There are things I don't like about my job though too, and I think you will have to weigh this out in any field you work in and see what is more important to you. I work holidays, I don't really mind it because my family drives me crazy for the most part anyway, but most nurses work some if not most of the holidays. I work nights, you got about a 50/50 shot of working nights, probably more when you first start out. Again, I don't mind working nights, but some nurses do. Many patients are ungrateful and expect to be waited on hand and foot. Most ICU patients really need to be there, and many are intubated, so I don't encounter that aspect too often. But there are the patients that make you so glad you became a nurse. The grateful heart attack who got better and walked out. The septic patient no one was counting on that managed to go home. There's also the codes where the patients don't make it, but I can feel like I did everything I can for that person.

I will say many ICU nurses are type A personality (same with ER I've noticed). I'm not completely a type A, which is probably to my disadvantage but I seem to hold my own and respected as long as I know what I'm doing. It's also great to have a good teamwork mentality, but you also want to work somewhere where everyone else feels the same way.

Wow that was a mouthful. Good luck making your decision!

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

Hey Katherine!

First, let me tell you that I feel for you. Shoulder/bicep surgery is difficult and I understand that PT is even harder. Keep at it-you sound like you are very fit and will no doubt recover beautifully.

I used to be a graphic artist for Kodak. After my mom was diagnosed and passed away from renal small cell cancer, I took a "life inventory". Since my mother's hospice nurse turned out to be our family's hero, I considered going to nursing school. I wanted to be able to impact someone's life positively the way Mom's nurse did with us. I had always been interested in science, and one of my favorite places in the world as a child was Mom's lab. She would put me on a stool and let me watch as she did research. She showed me how to use a microscope, how to pipette, and how to read a culture.

I went to nursing school a month after Mom passed. I did it for the reasons mentioned above, and have been in love ever since. I consider it an honor to be able to take care of people at the most vulnerable time in their lives. I am able to hold someone's hand before they go off to sleep for surgery. I am able to clearly and knowledgeably explain what their surgery entails so that they won't be as scared going in. I am able to learn every day from the other nurses and surgeons that I work with. I can't remember one single time in my nursing career when I was bored. It fits my personality working in the OR because I am at once assertive, aggressively protective of my patients, and also very compassionate to not only the patients that I serve, but also to my co-workers. I get brain candy by being able to listen in when the attending is explaining to a new resident the finer points of pathophysiology. And I get to SEE IT in full color!

I hope that you DO choose nursing. I can't imagine doing anything else. Good luck to you, and come back and visit us often.

All the best, Canes

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