What do you like most about your specialty?

sistasoul · Dec 17, 2017

I love old people too!

alexaway · Dec 18, 2017

The worst part is that my manager sucks; he rarely acknowledges a job well done and almost always has a negative thing to say. It's a downer and our entire team's morale is actually pretty low because of this. Lots of great nurses are leaving

That sucks! I'm so sorry. I've read before that a bad boss is the number 1 reason why people leave their jobs

allnurses Guide · Dec 20, 2017

I work in acute adolescent psych inpatient and I have a heck of a lot of fun. I play my guitar and sing to them. I get to talk to interesting and some very annoying people all day long and when I go home at night I hug my normal healthy teenager and call it a day. Wash, rinse and repeat!

Hppy

Munch · Dec 22, 2017

I work neurology/neurosurgery med surg and the thing I love about it is that I can relate to many of my patients. I had a craniotomy myself and before that I suffered a traumatic brain injury due to an assault back in my early 20's. In addition to Neuro patients we also get overflow of other specialties so its always nice to change it up and keep my training and education fresh.

vampiregirl, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2017

Hospice RN (Hospice Home) - Care is truly patient centered to meet the patient's goals regarding symptom management and we have so many resources available to work toward this. An environment that provides support and education to the patient and their family. A group of colleagues (including the nursing staff, physicians, and non-clinical staff) who truly work together to provide support to our patient's and their families as well as each other - I've never worked in an environment like this. I've gained a new appreciation for the fragility of life.

Sometimes it's hard too - physically and emotionally. Disease processes can be unrelentless. Grief can bring out the best and worst of patient's family members, and some families are complicated to begin with.

Best nursing job I've ever had, but not the nursing job for everyone.

purplegal · Dec 23, 2017

I do not often speak positively about my current position as a nurse in a skilled nursing facility that cares for rehab, long term care and hospice patients. However, although it has been a disappointing alternative to other nursing positions, it appears to be the position where I will be working for an indefinite amount of time, so it's not going to hurt me to say something good about the position every once in awhile.

1. It's hard to get people to come and stay in our facility, so the workers who have been there a significant amount of time do their best to help you out and teach you, probably in hopes that they can get at least some people to stay. They're willing to help you out when you need it, they'll answer your questions without constantly criticizing you, and they're more than willing to help you learn new skills.

2. Despite it being a "nursing home," there are a lot of skills that you would see on a med-surge floor. In fact, there are some skills you acquire that your colleagues at local hospitals do not since they have specialized teams for about everything, and we do not. However, even though there is a variety of patients, and a variety of skills, they do not come in overwhelming amounts.

3. The continuity of patients is generally helpful. It means you'll get some of the skills everyday so you get time to get better at them, you can figure out how to better plan and manage your schedule because you have an idea of what each patient is going to require/want, and it's easier to detect deviations in health condition because you have a visual baseline to compare it to.

4. Most of the time everyone is more appreciate of you than they are at the hospital, both patients and coworkers alike. Lots of criticism at the hospital with little to no feedback on what you're doing well.

5. Your schedule is more consistent. You are either scheduled days, evenings, or nights. You can choose to work other shifts if you like, but you're not required. The only time is maybe when the next person does not come in and you have to work a few hours of the next shift.

6. It's five minutes away from my house, and parking isn't nearly as restricted as it is at our hospital/clinic.

I am not going to even start writing about the negative aspects of the job. I am already negative enough about the position, that I do not believe discussing the negative aspects of the position will be beneficial.

YumCookies, BSN, RN · Jan 13, 2018

I just started doing float pool nursing a few months back - I float to the med surg units (telemetry and orthopedics), ICU, ED, adult psych, detox floor, and day surgery and will take a full assignment on those floors. Most days it feels like I'm flying off the seat of my pants lol...on the plus side I am learning a LOT and I'm not sucked into the unit politics/drama. I also like the variety and I'm having a lot of fun! I was pretty intimidated at first but you just have to ask questions and advocate for yourself if you need to.