How did you *know* your specialty and when?

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  1. When did YOU know your specialty?

    • 26
      Before I started nursing school!
    • 22
      During or halfway through nursing school!
    • 20
      After nursing school!
    • 29
      I'm still not sure!
    • 21
      Don't stress you'll find it :)

109 members have participated

Hi nurses! :redpinkhe

I was just curious - when did you know what specialty you wanted to work in? I have one year left of nursing school and have done several placements but haven't really found my "niche" yet (although I know that mental health nursing is not for me).

Next year we have to choose our placements and wondering if I should pick a few really different ones (that I may not have imagined I'd like) and see if I like it? I guess it's the time to experiment maybe?

A lot of students in my class already know what their "calling" is - many want to work in NICU. When did you know?

Thanks! :nurse:

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

About 1 hour into a shadow day in the ER. :smokin:

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I didn't have a nursing "calling" to an area. I have always worked where I could get a job.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OB, NICU.

During nursing school. On my last semester, after I had already seen many specialties. I fell in love with the specialty when I had my clinicals there.

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I just wanted an escape from med-surg after my first year as a nurse.

I applied for OR at another hospital, but was told that those position was for internal candidates only, perhaps I would try for one of the surgical ICUs like neuro, cardiothoracic or surgical ICU instead?

There were no fixed ideas in my mind about exactly what I wanted to do in nursing.

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Specializes in Emergency.

I totally thought I was going to be a Peds nurse. Until about 3 days into my Peds rotation when i realized that I liked kids, but I disliked parents. Parents always seem to come with kids.

I worked in an ED as a tech in school, and so it was pretty much a given that I would end up back there. It is the only place I ever felt comfortable, though I was an ICU nurse as well and enjoyed it ok.

Now. I'm infection prevention, and I love it...there is a small bunch of us Bug and Germ nerds, I'm so lucky to have gotten in with a good group.

BUT...I would have never thought of Infection Prevention initially.

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

my first assignment was an ortho surgical floor and i hated it! loved my fellow employees but not the floor.

after about six months, i applied for a psych opening and got it. loved it!

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Specializes in Rehab, Neuro, geriatrics.

I've been a nurse for 3 years and still have no idea. . .no I take that back, I know that I do NOT want peds, OB/LD, ER, ICU or OR. So, I guess I'm narrowing it down :)

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Specializes in Pedi.

I'm one of those people who entered nursing school knowing I was going to be a peds nurse, went through nursing school knowing I was going to be a peds nurse, graduated and have been a peds nurse since day #1. Save for a few temp jobs I did to earn extra money in college for a few months, every job I've ever had has involved working with children and I never considered doing anything else.

There are plenty of nurses/nursing students who enter school believing they want one thing and completely change their mind after doing clinicals. I am certain that a much larger number of my fellow nursing students believed they were going to do pediatrics when they entered school and changed their minds as soon as they got to peds clinical. Peds is not for people who just think kids are cute and would be fun to work with. If you loved all your babysitting jobs, that doesn't necessarily mean you will love caring for kids as they go septic because their counts completely bottomed out after chemotherapy or as they're kicking you because they don't want to take their PO medicine. And then, of course, kids die when you're a peds nurse and that's not something everyone is prepared to handle.

NICU is a very common desire for nursing students, IMO. I would hazard to guess that very few will actually go there. I can think of only one person who I went to school with (out of a class of nearly 100) who is a NICU nurse.

You will find your niche, eventually and it may be something completely opposite of what you expected. Which of your clinicals did you enjoy the most? Do you generally know if you want to work with adults, children or with the maternity population? Your preceptorship is a time you can try something that you'd never get a chance to see otherwise... burn unit? ICU? I had a friend in college who was dead set on becoming a flight nurse and did her preceptorship in an ER in anticipation of trying to get an ER job (which is a prereq to being a flight nurse) then fell into medical nursing and loves it. The great thing about nursing is it's so broad.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.
About 1 hour into a shadow day in the ER. :smokin:

I hated my ER clinical. Now, I dont think there is anything else I would ever do in a hospital.

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My specialty found me.

I had developed a professional career map with certain specialties (always knew I didn't want just one) and the methods of achievement before I left nursing school. After school I had fallen into my current specialty and simply fell in love.

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Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.

I was just curious - when did you know what specialty you wanted to work in?

I knew as soon as I got a job offer. I didn't pick my specialty, it picked me!

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