How did you choose your specialty??

[mitral]

I am SO lost, I have NO idea where I want to work. Our program has done 10 days in a nursing home, 5 days in mental health rotation, 40 days on a general med surg floor, 2 days in OB, 4 days in peds, and 2 hours in the ER. and thats all were getting. Well now I have to choose where I want to do my preceptorship at and I have no idea, because I would like to do it in the field I want to work in, but I feel like I havent experienced enough to really know what I like. 2 areas that I was really interested in are the ICU and surgery, but I was told we didnt have enough time to do either of those- ive never even observed a surgery of any type. So how did you all choose where youre going in nursing?? And have you had more exposure?

[Annachu512, BSN, RN]

I personally am up in the air about what I'm going to do. I want to be either an L&D nurse or go into critical care so I can apply to go for my CRNA license. I'm sure that once I have more clinical experience, that will help me in my decision. By the time I'm done with the BSN program, I might honestly not want to attend anymore schooling. :beer:

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

I chose mine because they offered me a job. "What's that you want me to do??? You got it!"

[mangopeach]

I'm in my 3rd semester so I haven't officially chosen yet but I know I want to be a Psych nurse. I chose this specialty because I am passionate about mental health issues. I have a close family member with a mental illness so its something that hits close to home. I love it, just started my psych rotation and it fits like a glove. I know this is where I belong. I also want to do addictions. Which is interesting, addictions kinda falls under the psych umbrella but I never really considered working in that area until this semester. Hopefully I can work Psych full time and an addiction clinic PRN or part time.

[Pneumothorax, BSN, RN]

I personally am up in the air about what I'm going to do. I want to be either an L&D nurse or go into critical care so I can apply to go for my CRNA license. I'm sure that once I have more clinical experience, that will help me in my decision. By the time I'm done with the BSN program, I might honestly not want to attend anymore schooling. :beer:

im so over school and im not even done yet LOL....some day ill get my MSN...but not now..im tired. lol

*how did i pick where i wanted to specialize in? well, i work in EMS now, and really like it so , i figured ill just stick with it and move to ER, bc its where i feel most comfortable... i am kinda leaning towards CVICU as well bc i like a challenge. but since im indecisive on two awesome places ill stick with ER.. until i get bored(never)..eventually , i try for a spot in Flight :)

[shananigansWI]

I'm in the beginning of the second semester of my program, and realizing I have no idea what I want to do. I feel like my experience is too limited and there are so many options, many of which I am still completely unaware. I guess I'm hoping to be lucky enough to come across an experience that grabs me and says "this is it!" Is that foolish?

[CrazyCatLadyRN, BSN, RN]

Ive been a nurse for almost a year now. I work on a surgical telemetry unit and I think that it is a really great place to start. It's more critical than regular med surg but not as acute as ICU with et tubes and drips and stuff. I honestly don't think any new grad should start in the icu. You really do need the experience. I don't care what anybody says. There is no way 2-4 years of school teaches you enough To mange tubed pts on multiple drips. And the skills you gain from balancing 4-7 fairly acute pts on a tele floor is awesome. So here's my advice....if you are interested in icu or a specialty do it for your internship, then start out in a tele or step down unit. That way you get your feet wet and see what it's all about. Then after you do a year or so hopefully that will lead to a job. I did mine in the pacu and it was amazing, you see so much. I hope that my surgical tele experience will someday lead me back there :-)

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

totally by accident, every time. first was like mn nurse-- got a job offer for pacu, took it, learned to love it, led to 20 yrs in critical care. then dept closed, no need for nurse educator, interviewed for work comp case mgmt job, took it, and that led to independent practice and legal nursing. you just never know. i never heard of any of this stuff in school, and i've had a great career with it.

[fsh1986]

I was able to do my preceptorship in the ICU, BUT I had to get approval from the ICU director and get them to email the coordinator of the nursing program, as well as recommendations from my clinical instructor and Adult II classroom instructor.. If you have an interest in ICU, I would do what you need to do to get your preceptorship approved for ICU! :)

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

I chose it based on the actual job offers I recieved.