How Did You Decide On Your Specialty?

[HappyMeNow]

I'm first year nursing student and I'm exploring my options with very limited knowledge. I swear I could spend hours on allnurses just reading up on these specialties. Right now I'm leaning towards being a nurse anethetist. I don't know how I could afford the tutition when the time comes though, so this is all a long long range plan.

So how did you pick your specialty?

[BeachPrincess]

I think you should get throught school first, its hard enough just getting the first nursing degree. You will be amazed how many times your focus will change to something else APN wise. I wanted to do ACNP, then womens health, then FNP.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I followed my heart. I kept an open mind as I was exposed to lots of areas while in school -- and I chose the one the "felt like the best fit" for me. I was attracted to the NICU patients and to the work of taking care of them -- and pursued that attraction.

[neonatal_nurse]

I agree with both posts. First, you have to get through school first so that you'll know how it feels like. Which area do you excel in most, which do you enjoy, etc. And only then will you know. Reading and doing research on this can get you only so far, and it's far from actually being there and experiencing it for yourself. For instance, when I was a student, I was always attracted to psych nursing and loved it so much, I also enjoyed my clinicals, though after our rotation was over, I realized it was a lot of hardwork and not to mention really dangerous. It was only during my residency training that i realized that I had this feeling of calm when I'm with babies, I felt like I was surrounded by angels. So next thing I knew, I chose that area, and I was thankfully assigned in that area. Bottomline: Go to school first, worry about your specialty after. Don't you think you research on how you could survive nursing school first rather than you're future specialty?