Found your niche?

I haven't been able to find my niche in nursing either. I've been an RN since 2004 and I've tried a few different specialties and different settings. None of them seemed to be my niche. I felt out of place and overwhelmed in all of them. Now nobody wants to hire me. Human resources people and nurse recruiters look at my resume and can immediately tell that I've struggled with nursing. At this point, I'll probably never find my niche in nursing because I think I've ruined my nursing career. I guess I'm not cut out to be a nurse. What a waste of a BSN.

I originally went into nursing because I loved the nurses who helped me with my gestational diabetes. I wanted to go into OB nursing. I was really surprised when in nursing school, I found I hated that clinical rotation. My last rotation was on a cardiac floor and I was again surprised to find that I loved it. I applied for a position on that floor right after graduating and have been there ever since. I did leave briefly to try another hospital but I soon found that my floor is unique and I've been much more appreciative of my facility ever since, now that I know how awful other places can be. I've floated to many floors and I think if I had to switch I could do SICU or pulmonary, but ortho, neuro, peds, OB, ER, rehab, med-surg...none of those are for me. So I guess you could say I've always pretty much known I'm right where I should be.

The patients are what make it so great for me. I love, love, love those WWII vets. I'm so sad they're aging and dying so quickly now. At least I will have many fine memories of them. They're tough and they're funny and they like jokes and we seem to just "get" each other almost all of the time. They're my favorites. When I come in and see among my patients a male over the age of 80, I know he will most likely be the highlight of my night. Not always, but usually.

:)

YES!! Multiple niches in fact - luckily, they all complement one another.

I am a 4th generation educator (no one else in healthcare) so I guess it's actually sort of encoded into my DNA.... hmm, wonder if there's a telethon for that? My functional nursing 'home' is in education, no matter what the clinical setting. I've evolved with the technology, and currently I do a lot with online and elearning as well as high fidelity simulation. As long as I am working with and for nursing, I am happy. Wind me up and watch me teach.

My clinical 'home' is critical care. I have worked in many other areas, including stints in MedSurg but I love the "immediacy" of critical care. My brain thrives on the constant stream of new information that has to be processed and analyzed. I love the control - managing heart rates, hemodynamics, respiratory rates; knowing what to titrate, and which dial to adjust to make everything work as it should. I love the machines and gadgets; All those blips, whooshes, dings & tracings to play with. I love the ICU 'tribe' - all the snarky, independent, smart, prickly, go-for-broke nurses I have worked with ove the years.

My advice? Think about what you like to do - what really floats your boat? There's gotta be an aspect of nursing where you can find it. Give up the 'nursing as a vocation' idea - it isn't a religious order. You may be looking for a deep spiritual connection that just isn't gonna happen. We feel good about things that we have mastery over. Find a need and fill it. Really dig in and become the best at something - create your own niche. Hey, that's how jobs like patient advocate, diabetes educator, lactation consultants, hospice nurse, etc. were created!!

Villanova- Oh don't say that! It's definitley not a waste (I don't have mine yet but I sure hope its not a waste!) I think the poor economy doesnt help your situation either with so many hiring freezes and all. Don't worry though you will get something (maybe your next job won't be your niche but you'll find it!) we have so many options with a BSN!! Good Luck! :icon_hug:

I came to despise my job because of all the toxicity, politics, blah blah blah blah. Took a year off and then came back to work on a resource pool. LOVE IT. My experience is so diverse. One day I do chemo, the next trauma, the next acute medicine etc etc. I have enough support thru my corporation and its clinical educators that I feel very comfortable in this role. Now I never have to deal with cliques, politics, toxicity. I just nurse!!!!! Everyday is a new learning experience, my resume is becoming awesome and on the plus side.....in a corp of 15,000 people, after 4 months....I already know where I would work, and where I wouldn't if hell freezes over. Great way of introducing yourself to new aspects of nursing with out taking a "plunge". And remember....if you have a bad day, its over at 7pm...your off to somewhere new in the am! Freedom!

I knew before I started my Nursing training that I wanted to work in Emergency. I had experience with pre-hospital trauma and just knew. I now work in the Emergency department and have found my niche even more specialised, I love Fast-Track, a combination of Primary Health Care and "Mini-Trauma". I think that working there gives me such a broad range of experiences and no two shifts are the same, going from picking maggots out of a wound to helping close reduce a dislocation in less than a minute....I love it!!

A niche is a funny thing though, at Uni one of my instructors was a midwife who knew that I wanted emergency, we both thought the same about the others choice of field...Thats messy and yucky!!