help in deciding

[Jenn Mendoza]

Ok im going to start going to college in the fall. I wanted to become a nurse but I am nervous on what kind of nurse I would like to be... Can anyone just describe what they do in their profession? Thank you.. JM

[hodgieRN]

Well, you aren't going to know what type of nurse you want to be until you are in nursing school. There are some who know where they want to work before school, but nursing school is going to provide experiences that will guide you. Some have their eyes set on cardiac, but one great day in pediatrics can change the game. If you really want a good point of view with different positions, try to shadow some nurses in the hospital. See if you can follow a nurse in ER, ICU, surgery, NICU, cardiac, interventional radiology, coronary care unit, etc. Spend a couple shifts with them. That might give you an idea of the different areas. I've worked in ER and ICU. You see trauma alerts, heart attacks, car accidents, strokes, infections, a huge selection of surgeries. You get to work with invasive lines and monitoring, medication drips, stabilization. If you want, google things like "chest tubes, central lines, ventilators, code charts, code blue, wound drains, hemodynamic monitoring." Cool stuff. But see if you can shadow. It's a great experience. Most students don't know where they want to work until the last semester in nursing school. Good luck :)

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

Just relax. People ask me what kind of nurse I want to be, but I usually just tell them that I I'll probably decided sometime during nursing school when I'm exposed to it. I'm really interested in Trauma, but who knows what I'll end up in.