I am a new graduate and just received my lpn license. I have recently been offered a job at a local hospital and they have given me the choice of 3 different areas to work in. ER, Oncology-med/surg, and ICU. I don't know which one will be the best starting career choice. Most of my in school experience was in med-surg, but I would love to hear from nurses who work in the following areas about their jobs. I guess my biggest fear is that I am so new to nursing, which is not to say that I am afraid of doing skills, just that I don't bring experience to the table. Any advice that can be given would be greatly appreciated.
Jun 1, '09
It's a learning curve one way or another. Choose the area that interests you most, not the one that may be easiest. You'll be glad you did.
Jun 1, '09
Thank You! I am just so flustered, but honestly following my heart would be the best choice
Jun 1, '09
Select the unit that you think will interest you the most. You might turn out to be unhappy working in a certain specialty if it was never something you wanted to do in the first place. Good luck to you!
Jun 1, '09
I work in Oncology as a New Grad (been there a year now) and LOVE it!!!! I just started giving chemo. I love that the pts stay for a longtime, we really get to know them and their families. AND they tend to get admitted again and again which makes taking care of them easier as we know their history. We get attached to the pts and even text each other on our days off to see how pts are doing.
Jun 2, '09
Its up to you really, you need to go where your heart is but if it were me personally I would go for the ER all the way. If I couldn't have the ER then probably Med/Surg but definitely not Oncology (sorry but a little too depressing for me.)
!Chris
Jun 2, '09
Do all three areas have the same length of orientation?
Jun 2, '09
From a semi-new grad to another- unless you already have a specialty in mind that you feel is your calling, work something general, like med/surg or ED. This way you build on and perfect your most fundamental skills. Do that for a couple years. By the end of those couple years, you'll probably have a place in your heart for something particular.
Jun 2, '09
So much for the "Can't find a Job" we keep hearing from a select few
Jun 2, '09
ER offers the best training.Once you gain experience in ER they will hire you everywhere.
Jun 2, '09
I think you can't go wrong with the ER/ICU from an experience perspective. As beachbutterfly said, once you gain experience in ER they will hire you everywhere.
Jun 3, '09
Thank you all so much for helping me with this. The recruiter at the hospital set up time for me to talk to nurses in each area. I guess considering some people on the board are having difficulting finding employment, I should really consider myself lucky to even have options. Thank you all again, so much
Jun 1, '09It's a learning curve one way or another. Choose the area that interests you most, not the one that may be easiest. You'll be glad you did.
Jun 1, '09Thank You! I am just so flustered, but honestly following my heart would be the best choice
Jun 1, '09Select the unit that you think will interest you the most. You might turn out to be unhappy working in a certain specialty if it was never something you wanted to do in the first place. Good luck to you!
Jun 1, '09I work in Oncology as a New Grad (been there a year now) and LOVE it!!!! I just started giving chemo. I love that the pts stay for a longtime, we really get to know them and their families. AND they tend to get admitted again and again which makes taking care of them easier as we know their history. We get attached to the pts and even text each other on our days off to see how pts are doing.
Jun 2, '09Its up to you really, you need to go where your heart is but if it were me personally I would go for the ER all the way. If I couldn't have the ER then probably Med/Surg but definitely not Oncology (sorry but a little too depressing for me.)
