How to find your NICHE in nursing??

MN-Nurse, ASN, RN · Feb 14, 2012

I have always wanted to work in public health, it seems like most area clinics want you to have a year of hospital experience?? This is just BS to me.

"Hi!! I'm cyoucapri. I have a hard time getting along with other people and I have a hard time organizing priorities and maintaining my composure. Because of these limitations, I have never worked as a nurse. I think experience working as a nurse taking care of people is BS. Will you hire me in your clinic, ahead of more experienced nurses who have proved they can function, where I will continue to combine my utter lack of experience with my inability to get along with people in a business environment?"

I think you are going to have to prove you can perform the core tasks of nursing somewhere.

It's what the rest of us had to do.

I really do wish you the best, but I think you need to change your outlook and learn to apply your nursing skills while learning to function in a workplace no matter what your career niche turns out to be.

Good luck!

Guttercat, ASN, RN · Feb 14, 2012

Hello to all my fellow nurses, I am a new RN who is struggling to find my niche. I know most people say to work in a hospital for the first year and then you can go anywhere. What if the hospital is not a right fit for me? Always a struggle dealing with workplace politics, I guess there is no way around that. I also have a hard time organizing my time between a group of patients and maintaining my composure in a high-stress environment. I have always wanted to work in public health, it seems like most area clinics want you to have a year of hospital experience?? This is just BS to me. I feel like I should be given a chance without the year's experience. I am a compassionate male nurse motivated to work in a clinic providing one to one patient care and education. How can I sell myself to private practice managers in such a competitive environment where experience is valued over potential and drive?

This has long been one of my major pet peeves in nursing (I've been at it twenty years).

RN schools/academia, and employers tell you to "find your niche" without truly assisting students to realize their strengths early on. It would seem from the employer-side, their emphahsis by default is on the cheap warm-body aspect, and from the nursing program side, it is about NCLEX pass-rates...while they tell you to "find your niche." Gag.

It took me a while to figure out how I work best and in which environment. I spent wasted years beating myself up because I wasn't a "team-playing pill pusher."

I've posted this site before. Know yourself and how you are hardwired. We are not automatons on an assembly line.

http://www.floatingneutrinos.com/Message/arcs/links_on_abstractrandom.htm

Read the whole thing.

Know also that you will "overlap" predominant learning/work styles, but there will be a theme that overrides the others. For instance I am predominantly an "Abstract/Sequential" learner/thinker but writing creatively is not a "stretch" for me at all (unless it's fiction which I hate), nor is risk-taking.

There are several studies one can google on the four learning/thinking styles (Abstract/Sequential, Abstract/Random, Concrete/Sequential, Concrete/Random).

cyoucapri · Feb 20, 2012

I do want to go into public health someday doing public awareness campaigns and providing care in underserved areas. I am very interested in world health and epidemiology. I know that it's important to have that one year's hospital experience since that's where we will get to hone in on essential skills like time management, patient education, and maintaining the confidence and composure under stressful situations. I have a passion for writing and travelling. My dream is to work for the CDC or WHO.

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2012

Do you have a BSN? If not, get started on it. If so, look into MPH programs. With a goal of working for the International organizations, you will likely need it.

cyoucapri · Feb 21, 2012

Yes, I received my BSN in May of 2011. I did the 12 month accelerated program, never doing that again! I felt like I had to cram everything in that year. Took the boards in a month and a half and passed on the first try. I'd say it was worth it in the end. I definitely want to go back and get my MPH. However, I want to get some RN experience to make myself more marketable and hopefully save enough money to pay for the tuition. Such a competitive job market all around.

pockunit, ADN, RN · Feb 25, 2012

I want to get some RN experience to make myself more marketable

Isn't that your answer right there? Go put in your time, get some experience, learn some skills, and then make your move. There is a reason clinics and private practices want employees with experience.

Think about it: Would YOU want a freaked-out nurse with bad time-management skills and little experience caring for YOU?

Merlyn · Feb 25, 2012

I do want to go into public health someday doing public awareness campaigns and providing care in underserved areas. I am very interested in world health and epidemiology. I know that it's important to have that one year's hospital experience since that's where we will get to hone in on essential skills like time management, patient education, and maintaining the confidence and composure under stressful situations. I have a passion for writing and travelling. My dream is to work for the CDC or WHO.

Try Hospital work first, Med/Surg if possible. Get your masters, while always keeping your mind on your goal. Keep writing, that skill must never leave you. The power to push a noun against a verb in this text world will increase your chances of success.

pitaya · Feb 28, 2012

I do want to go into public health someday doing public awareness campaigns and providing care in underserved areas. I am very interested in world health and epidemiology. I know that it's important to have that one year's hospital experience since that's where we will get to hone in on essential skills like time management, patient education, and maintaining the confidence and composure under stressful situations. I have a passion for writing and travelling. My dream is to work for the CDC or WHO.

Wow. I could have written this. I actually agree with everything you wrote in that paragraph. I work in a hospital and I hate it, but I keep telling myself that it is preparation for my dream public health job!!!