Graduating soon, and I don't know exactly what I want to do. Ideas?

[november17, ASN, RN]

Barring acts of God, I will be graduating from an ADN program in April. I was sitting around today and making a list of my goals for the upcoming year. Obviously, at the top of my career goals is to finish school / get through the NCLEX. Next on the list is to find a job. I've been doing a lot of thinking about a job, and I realized that I don't really know what I want to do. I thought hard about my strengths and weaknesses, and job desires. I honestly feel very apathetic about a job. I know that I want to work, but I don't know where I want to work. I do not mind fast paced environments (makes time fly!), I'm good under pressure, am extremely patient, and I'm more or less a hard worker (I was a carpenter before I went into nursing - this is my "second career"). I also get along pretty well with coworkers. I am decent at the management/delegation thing (still working on that, but that's for the upcoming semester). I also really enjoy challenges.

I have a year of experience as a CNA in a nursing home, but I swore I'd probably never go back into that line of work. I am leaning towards acute care, but for the right environment/employer/opportunity I may be willing to go back into long term care. I'd really rather not take a job that is strictly pushing pills though.

I have been to several different hospitals, and the only floors that I didn't really care for were the cardiac / progressive care units (coincidentally, they are both floors with a large amount of observation going on, so maybe that isn't for me). However, that may have been more related to the particular hospitals I was at. None of the floors I've been on really stand out to me as particular points of interest, but then again I've never really been on the same floor for more than a few weeks at a time. I just don't really have my heart set on anything in particular yet.

I've heard before that going into certain areas will pigeonhole new nurses because of the specialized skills that are required/learned. The one thing I do know is that I'd prefer to get a broad amount of experience for when I finally decide on the unit I'd like to stick with. I'm also planning on moving across the country a year or two after I graduate, and I'd like to get experience that will look good on a resume when I apply for a new employer. Maybe there is a nurse manager / someone that does hiring on here that can make some suggestions regarding that?

I don't really have my heart set on a hospital position, but I realize that they are probably the easiest to get straight out of school. I'm open for anything, really. Does anyone have any suggestions on a type of job to go for fresh out of school to gain a good broad experience ?

[Wren]

Med-surg, med-surg, med-surg. Seriously. It will give you a good foundation for anything you want to do after this. Who knows, you may even love med-surg and make that your career path. Good luck and welcome to nursing!

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I always recommend med-surg for those who don't know what they want to do. It is indeed a good foundation to see all sorts of patients. Then as time goes on you can use it as a springboard to specialities, or like me you might stay for money years and love it.