How did you decide your specialty?

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A little background information: I am a second degree BSN student and I graduate in December of this year. I have been thinking a lot about what kind of jobs to apply for since graduation is around the corner. So far, I have done my ob (L&D) and post partum rotations. I work one on one with a preceptor on a cario/neuro critical care unit and have so far worked with her around 250 hours. I will be with her another 225 hours this summer and then again in the fall. I will do my peds and psych rotations in July. We will also get a chance to do a rotation or two in the ER and ICU as well once we take the acute care class in the fall.

Having said all that, I still don't know where I belong. I LOVED labor and delivery but I also love critical care. Should I just bite the bullet and apply for anything and everything for new grads? I know that new grads have some fierce competition and that beggars can't be choosers but I want to be happy where I work (who doesn't?). I am in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area if that matters.

For me- I doubt I will stay in the same place. And that's okay! I worked in a variety of psych units (Adolescent, forensics, adult, geriatric) and I currently work as a charge nurse in LTC, which is wonderful. But I also have a ton of other places I'd love to work- I have a feeling I will move around quite a bit in my career. You don't have to pick one place and stay there forever! Try it out- move on after a couple of years if it's not for you!

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Specializes in PACU, presurgical testing.

I went into nursing school expecting to end up in the OR or in psych. I found out through clinicals that neither was a good fit. I adored my pts at our state hospital, but they drained me absolutely dry every shift for the whole rotation, and I knew I would burn out in a year. Then on "OR day," when I watched an incredible surgery and realized that A) I like my patients awake, B) everyone else in the OR had a job that interested me more than the circulator's, and C) I could NEVER stand still long enough to be a first assist, that was it for OR.

This left me high and dry without a direction. My clinical professor arranged for me to have a shadowing day in the PACU instead of another day in the OR, figuring it was surgical-flavored and a place I could actually interact with patients, and I WAS HOOKED. That was it; I've been there ever since. I would not have known this if I hadn't had the chance to go down there and hang out for a day.

My advice? Shadow, shadow, shadow. If your gut says "forget it," listen to your gut. As someone pointed out above, knowing what you don't like is at least as important as figuring out what you do like. I tell everyone to shadow; you'll know quickly if an area gives you energy or saps you, bores you or terrifies you, makes you want to learn more, or (and this sounds awful, but nurses, you know what I mean) if you're even interested in what's going on with the patients! (For example, I LOVE doing preop calls, meeting patients before surgery, caring for them afterward, but I don't feed them, get them up walking, worry about their discharge plans, or care about their BMs. Sorry, it's just not my thing. Once they're upstairs, I'm grateful for the med-surg nurses who love that stuff!) Don't feel badly about realizing what you don't like; yes, you can always move around, but life is short, and I think you give better care when it's your thing.

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Specializes in psychiatric, corrections.

I picked psych because when i was a teenager i was a psych pt! Lol. I was never locked in an institution, but almost. So it takes one to know one. :woot:

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Specializes in Cardicac Neuro Telemetry.
Hey what school do you go to?

Texas Tech

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I think that you should apply for whatever you want to apply and wherever you feel that you can do well at in your nursing career. People have always told me this quote: "Do whatever you feel that you are passionate about, wherever your heart is at, and wherever you can get up in the morning excited about doing your work." Those are all famous sayings and quotes that people have given me over the years and I have used them faithfully and wisely. Sometimes, someone else had picked a job for me and I got hired for it, but once I got there I did not like it at all. It was hard for me to get excited over my work because someone else picked it for me. As long as you pick wherever you want to work at, you should be fine and do well. Good luck to you and thank you for choosing nursing as a profession. Marcy CNA

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Specializes in Varied.

It wasn't until my last semester before I knew hospice was where I wanted to be. Unfortunately, in my area all hospice organizations require a year of experience. So, I currently work in oncology, which was my second choice.

I like patients who are more into comfort care. It's important for me to do things the patient wants first and then what the medical team wants second.

I just knew. It'll come as you close your degree too!

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I was a cna for a few years before I began nursing school. After my preceptor for lpn in LTC, I never wanted to work in LTC again! The nursing facility was horribly understaffed and the poor nurse who I had didn't really have time to teach me. I kept telling myself "as soon as I pass my RN boards, I'm never stepping foot in a nursing home again!" Fast forward...I'm now the DON at a LTC facility! Ha! I love getting to know the residents and their families and sharing the journey they are on with them. Working with the elderly is so rewarding for me. I love seeing the residents smile and laugh. I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else:)

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Specializes in oncology, geriatrics, psychogeriatrics.

In nursing school, I made it a point to try out as many specialties as possible. When I started the program, everybody either wanted to go into pediatrics or emergency/critical care. Guess what? Only three of our graduating class went on to do pediatrics and 10 specialised in critical care. All the rest of us choose a completely different path. There are so many specialties and opportunities out there that straight out of nursing school it is difficult to really find something you know you would want to do for the rest of your life. It takes a lot of trial and error to get where you want to be.

I've always been fascinated by oncology and have done several placements in facilities that specialise in cancer care and I loved them all. When I applied for a job in oncology, I had to quit after a month because I felt like I didn't belong there (amongst other various reasons). Experiencing it as a student was completely different from experiencing it as a nurse. I had worked as a CNA while doing nursing school and I had sworn to never go back to a nursing home after having my nursing degree. In the end, I realised that this is what I love doing the most. I really missed my patients and the type of care I gave them while being a CNA and while I didn't go back to the same nursing home, I love where I am right now. I'm currently the assistant chief of a floor in a nursing home that's part a geriatrics floor from our local hospital and am going back to school within a year to get my masters in psychogeriatrics.

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Specializes in Oncology (OCN).

My speciality chose me. I went to nursing school with the goal in mind of doing NICU. I even spent my last six weeks of clinicals in NICU. Unfortunately, the town where we lived when I graduated did not have a NICU and transferred all babies requiring NICU level care to a metropolitan area 120 miles away. I had made the commute for nursing school and just was no longer willing to do it for work. There were not any openings in the newborn nursery so I took a position in oncology to get my one year experience and then transfer when a position became available. I feel in love with oncology and ended up spending my entire career there.

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It was not until I became a teacher for about one month that I developed an interest in school nursing. In fact, the director of the school made me the school nurse due to all of the health science education and also went to nursing school; therefore the director realized that I would not only be a good teacher, but also a good school nurse and I was in fact the only school nurse that they ever had in the history of the school. So, I was thankful to make history in that school as a school nurse. I found out that I really enjoy helping children.

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My nursing specialty came as a surprise to me. I had no idea what to specialize in when I was a nursing student. I just wanted to be a nurse. A lot of the nursing students said that I have a special touch and calling for geriatric nursing and they were right because I worked in a skilled nursing facility for about 6 years. School nursing was a total surprise to me. I never thought that I would be a school nurse and love it so much, but I do. Now, I do both school nursing and clerical nursing at home and I volunteer at an assisted living facility. I am very blessed at the choices in nursing and I am thankful for all of my friends who have helped me along the way.

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People have always asked me "Why did I go into nursing?" I told them that nursing was not on my radar at all. In fact, when I entered my college orientation, I did not know anything or know what to study. I looked at all of the possible options and when I read about nursing, it just made sense for me to become a nurse. I went through one year of nursing school, became a CNA, and graduated with the health sciences and nursing degree. I took more health sciences classes after my nursing portion in order to become more well-rounded. Then, about 16 years later, I decided to get a masters degree in special education because I thought it would enhance my nursing capabilities in nursing for children's needs.

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