Not Sure what specialty to do? (nurse for 2.5 years)

[uiwhi]

Hello Everyone :)

Ive been an RN for 2.5 years. When I graduated nursing school I had zero clue as to what I wanted to go into. I LOVED my peds, patho, and situations where I had to work fast and think of my feet.

I started out on a telemetry floor. I loved taking care of the cardiac patients and liked when I had to think quick. Loved having CABG and stent pt's... I did NOT however like really working with adults and non compliant patients who really could care less about taking care of themselves. I was there 1.5 years.

I had the opportunity to go to a postpartum unit due to staffing on that unit. I took it because I was excited to get some kind of pediatric experience. While I LOVE working with the infants and doing their assessments and learning the nursing care, I find myself very bored with the *usually* healthy mothers. Dont get me wrong, it is a very busy unit and Im on my feet . I have learned things I would have never otherwise learned, and Im very thankful for the experience.

But, the only times I have found myself VERY interested have been during my first hemorrhage and Pre-E patient, both of which I was eager to learn on how to treat and handle. But when I have a pt who is just on vitamins.....I get bored.

Any suggestions as to what area of nursing I should go into? I have some in mind but would like opinions from others as well. I reallyyyy appreciate any feedback :)

Thank You!

[PeakRN]

If you don't like non-compliant patients I wouldn't think about the ED, ICU, or PICU.

Oncology is a very challenging specialty, you will always have something to learn and if you leave it the depth and variety of knowledge will always help you.

Tertiary referral hospitals can have some very interesting cases but you tend to only get what they specialize in, and can become somewhat monotonous. The same goes for high risk OB and high acuity NICUs.

[PixieRN1]

PICU.

[BedsideNurse]

There is so much noncompliance, that's a tough-y....PACU?

[mcaselogic]

Maybe OR? Won't have to deal with noncompliance. Things can go south in the OR and you'll have to think fast in certain situations.

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

While I LOVE working with the infants and doing their assessments and learning the nursing care, I find myself very bored with the *usually* healthy mothers.

Maybe NICU? I think we have an awesome pace due to the mix of high-acuity micros and low-acuity feeder-growers, although some people who thrive on true critical care get kind of bored with the repetitiveness. NICU is also nice in terms of compliance and family appreciation/gratitude.

If you'd thrive in a full-blown critical care, fast-paced environment, maybe a Peds Cardiac ICU; you'd have a leg up with your newborn and cardiac background. However, it can be frustrating to see kids who struggle because their parents are non-compliant (i.e. the cardiomyopathy kid 2 years post-transplant who is in rejection-related organ failure because mom wasn't refilling the immunosuppressant prescription).

I will say that from my personal experience, I've always found that PICU cases take a grater emotional toll on me than NICU. In NICU, our kids are protected from abuse and negligence, and we can ensure that all of their basic needs are met; you can see some pretty tragic cases in peds/PICU.

[c27_AEMT, BSN, EMT-I]

Not the OP but I have been having a similar situation after being ED for a while. Lots of non-compliance but also lots of patients who just aren't sick. Working in critical and trauma can be pretty cool but the acute care is so draining. I will have to look into oncology. I love reading and learning new things about science, medicine, and nursing and need a place where I really get to think hard and use the knowledge I have.