Finding yourself as a nurse

I actually went in to nursing for L & D but after school couldn't get in. I started out in Neuro/Trauma. In a couple of weeks I will be moving on to home care. Days, no weekends, no holidays. And now, I can't imagine doing L & D. I really enjoy the variety. Good luck to you!

I started working in L&D in November as a new grad. I went to nursing school for L&D and was fortunate to be offered the position. However, this is my 4 month and I find that I don't like it as much as I thought I would. It entails alot of energy. My unit is a high risk unit with a large patient load most of the times. During orientation I have had to manage two actively laboring patients which i found hard to do because L&d is very unpredictable. I'm not sure L&D is for me. I find that I would rather have my patients than to have to hurry up and recovery my postpartum patient so that I can receive the next admission. I enjoy pt. care but I'm thinking about changing to a different unit in the near future.

I thought I wanted 2 do Neurology as I had brain surgery in 1994, but Florida Neuro is 99% CVAs & TIAs which were boring 2 me. Found out I like Urology but Uro pts go 2 several different floors in our hosp., & in Florida 60% prostate, 30% dialysis, 10% other.

I have been a NICU nurse for 1 year and I can't say that this is what I want to be doing. Working with the babies is nice when they are stable enough to hold but I don't think this is a good fit for me. It has been such a frusterating year because I am still searching for what kind of nursing would fit me best. I envy some of the nurses I currently work with because I can see how being a NICU nurse is their PASSION. I hate to admit that I don't have that passion-I just view my job as extremely stressful. I have tried talking myself into giving it more time but I then look at the other nurses who don't have the passion for the job and see how burned out they are. It has just become a paycheck for them and they are too comfortable to make a move to another job. I don't want to be that kind of nurse. So for the past month I have been applying to other units like PICU and maybe even considering hospice.But I still don't know what I want to do in nursing.

I have to constantly remind myself of what it was that drove me to become a nurse and it was when I saw my sister giving birth to her son. I just fell in love with how amazing the L&D nurse was and how she made the whole experience for my sister special. Perhaps being an L&D nurse might be for me? Still searching....................

I am now working on Med/Surge floor which I NEVER thought I would actually enjoy b/c I hated it in clinicals. When I did my preceptorship at the end of school last year I did it in ER and actually had spent 2 other rotations in ER and know that is where I want to end up or possibly ICU eventually. But, I decided to listen to my instructors and get a year of floor nursing under my belt. I know that peds and L&D is not for me. I have spoken to the ER director already and in June I am going to begin orienting to the ER. Oncology is where I initially wanted to go but I don't think I could handle that emotionally at this point with small children.

Good luck in finding your "fit" in nursing!! Let us know what units you will be looking at in your orientation.

sounds like no one reallly knows exactly where they want to be!! I don't think any sort of quiz could tell you what kind of nursing you'll be best at... I think the most important thing to do is find what you like even if it takes some time and trial and error to figure out.. and keep an open mind! Maybe think back to what even made you want to become a nurse in the begining and go from that feeling. I've only been a nurse for 9 months now and am still undecided as far as what kind of nurse I want to be. I work in an ICU now; sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. I'm not sure if the negative feelings are because I am so new or if I really don't enjoy working in this ICU. For now I am just focusing on learning as much as possible and getting used to myself as a nurse! I learn so much from every patient and I think that's something that woun't change no matter where I go in nursing. Bottom line- I really enjoy helping people and that's why I'm a nurse! Good luck to you:wink2:

I went to nursing school thinking I wanted to be a NICU nurse. But I found that what I really love about nursing is building relationships with pts, doing teaching, providing emotional support, etc. I worked as a tech during school on a postpartum and an antepartum unit and loved them both. They gave me an opportunity to do the kind of nursing I like. So instead of looking for a NICU job, I took one on the antepartum unit when I graduated.

I think it is important to look at what you like about nursing. Is it pt contact, working with high-tech equipment, a constant adrenaline high, and then find a unit that meets those needs. Good luck!

In school, its hard to decide where you want to work. Clinicals in school is so different than the real world actually being the nurse. I have done OR, Home Health and ICU (adult/peds). I got to the point of not wanting to be a nurse anymore with Home Health. So I went back to the hospital into CCU. I havent been this happy in a job in years. I love what I do. It is hard at times, see my post in the CCU about the bad day I had Friday. But it is so worth it to me to be where I am. I love Cardiac anyway. I never wanted anything to do with L&D or postpartum, nothing to do with women having babies.

The thing is to find what you are interested in, what you want to excel in, and what you want out of your nursing career. Thats the wonderful thing about nursing, there are so many different areas and opportunities.

Good luck to you!

What I like best about My hospital is that I can choose. I wanted to picke the hardest place to be and for me that was ICU. Yet I got the opportunity to be in what is called the ICU/CCU pool. I get to work ICU, CCU, Telemetry, Respiratory, ER, and any other med-surg floor I may get called to. I work the floors, I get the specialty units, I get all the specialty training, I can get my ACLS, PALS, my CCRN, and SANE paid for iffin I want it plus other certifications, I also get $1.50 more an hour being in this pool which makes my starting pay 21.56 an hour for a new grad. I never get bored, I do not have to work L& D which I would hate.... don't want babies AT ALL or whiney women.. LOL.. don't like post partum AT ALL... and NO children. I love kids don't get me wrong.. but I don't like the parents. I am too afraid would get abused kids.. and I would'n't be able to contain myself... bad enough I have to work ER every now and again. My favorite place to be.. ICU... I am a new grad.. and even though INSTRUCTORS said.. get a year on the floor first.. BAD IDEA... for those of you intersted in ICU... They are so very willing to teach you.. they have an excellent training program.. and you are never alone.. I love ICU and CCU... its the type of care I like giving, the case load I like having... 2-3 patients not 6-9 like on the floors... and ER.. God love ER nurses.. .you guys ROCK... Lord knows how many patients you have in a night... Floor nurses.. who do it day in and day out.. God love you too... that is what I love most about my job.. is the variety I get it all.. I never get bored and I get to see the perspective of all the specialties and the units....

HUGS

Rae

Hi

We have a couple of post grad programs in private hospitals where graduates work a third of their rotations in med, surg and theatre. The hospitals I have been in have separate Medical and surgical wards. There's also a rural and remote placement where the graduate rotates in different sections including A & E and get to go to different towns too. I think programs like this would be tremendous in helping a new grad decide what part of the area they like. Do you have these in US?