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?
@StephMom&RN, I haven't started nursing school yet so have not taken clinicals nor have I ever worked in a hospital, but I'm curious as to what turns you off to psych? I've heard a lot of people saying they don't want to work in that area and I'm curious as to what people experience that can be offsetting? I love neuro anatomy and am interested in psych but I don't know what to expect since I haven't been really exposed to any of it and I'm starting to get a little cautious about it.
I actually finished a Bachelors degree in psychology and then worked in community psych for a year before deciding it wasnt for me. Like you, I found neuro interesting but the reality out there was different from the textbooks. One of the mental health wards I worked on felt like a revolving door, like you'd work so hard to get someone to the point they could go back to the community, then they would be back a week later because home didnt help, or alcohol was involved etc etc. So the job satisfaction of seeing someone get better wasnt there for me and felt some of them had a pretty bad long term prognosis. And sometimes their stay on the ward was a better option than home! As they were fed, supervised, nursing care etc.
For me, I am the same as StephMom, my family has an extensive history of mental illness and that was another reason for me. I also didnt agree with the way some doctors hand out antipsychotics and other drugs like candy as a quick fix. I figured out pretty quickly that mental health wasnt for me. But I also know some people that LOVE the complexity of mental health nursing. I found some of the mental health nurses quite kooky (in a good way) to be dealing with what they deal with and I really admire them, I just know its not for me. Does this help at all? Maybe speak to some people that work in the area too and see what they think! All the best! :)
I minored in Psych during undergrad so I was familiar with the area before nursing school/clinical... I also worked in OutPt Psych prior to nursing (because I needed a job, not because I wanted to be in that field).. It takes a special kind of person to work with that patient population and I just know that I honestly can't. My Psych clinical rotation wasn't horrible... but I didn't enjoy it at all. It's a "different" kind of nursing, every specialty has its own "brand" of nurse and Psych just isn't for me...
Been a nurse for almost 2 years. I started in the ICU not by choice but because that's where I got my first job offer. It's not where I want to be and I will be changing to another specialty as soon as I can figure out what it is. ICU is great for the right personality, I just prefer a less intense and slower paced environment.
I initially thought I wanted something to do with mental health but was hired as a float nurse my first week out of school and the manager I interviewed with asked me if I had ever thought of OB (I hadn't even ever had a placement in school so I had no idea!). She said she thought I'd be a good personality fit and sent me up to shadow a few days. I was hooked from my first delivery, which was actually a section, and they tracked me into a four month perinatal program and I worked at that hospital two years before getting laid off. Now I've moved provinces twice in two years to continue mat/child (I'm cross trained to post partum and love many aspects of that as well!) and can't imagine doing anything else. I'm usually pretty stoked to go to work no matter what and that's such a huge thing when you work shifts :)
After nursing school. I always thought I'd want to work in Labor and Delivery. Uh, no thanks! I shadowed there in nursing school and again after becoming licensed. I started off in a sub acute care floor of a hospital worked there for 18 months then transferred down to a medical/surg floor with Urology/Renal patient. Left that hospital to one closer to home and started out on a step down cardiac floor, where I learned telemetry and how to start IV's.
After working for a little over a year on that unit, I transferred into the ICU. I worked there for 6 months before deciding to move to a hospital where I'd get MORE critical care experience as I wasn't getting any in the ICU at the local hospital since I had the least seniority, I was always being floated out. I've been an ICU nurse for 10 yrs and I can't imagine doing anything else.
I have always loved psychology. My first nursing job was med/surg. Then went to psych, it was too far to drive on a regular basis but I loved it! Then went to another hospital close to home on med/surg again. I can take or leave med/surg Just got hired back into psych -dual diagnosis facility. I'm back home!!! So excited!!!
I always wanted to work OB in school, but was offered a med/surg job and took it out of school. I've been there for 4 years this September and am now a charge nurse and love it. Every now and then I wonder if I'd like anything else as much.
I knew when I had APII in my pre reqs that I liked cardiac. I figured I would work in a CVICU or step down. I also knew I didnt want to work with kids! Figured there was no way I wanted to deal with peds or their parents, I was the one in class that rolled my eyes when more than half of the class wanted to be peds nurses, that was until I did my peds rotation.
I was not looking forward to it, as a matter of fact I thought about skipping the 1st one since we were allowed to miss only on e a semester, but I went, and surprisingly I liked it! After that I was actually excited about the clinical rotation. I still wasn't sure, so to see if this feeling was real I went back and shadowed nurses at the childrens hospital. I really did like it.
My last semester I had two rotations, the first in an adult cvicu and I was actually enjoying that and I learned alot! Then for my senior internship I was placed on a cardiac peds unit. LOVED IT!!!! They offered me an interview and then a job and it was the best decision, I can honestly say I love my job, most of my nursing friends don't feel the same about their jobs.
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.
My experience too! I was 110% sure I wanted to be a peds nurse until I did my peds rotation. I was JUST as sure that I would HATE mental health, until I did my mental health rotation. Now I happily work as a psych nurse and can't imagine doing anything else!
Having done both PDN and acute and critical and specialized care (burn) -- working nights -- I've decided that my specialty is a 9-5 weekday job preferably in informatics or research or in any setting where patients aren't crapping everywhere or trying to hit me. (I'll take outpatient!)
misscherie
56 Posts
I actually finished a Bachelors degree in psychology and then worked in community psych for a year before deciding it wasnt for me. Like you, I found neuro interesting but the reality out there was different from the textbooks. One of the mental health wards I worked on felt like a revolving door, like you'd work so hard to get someone to the point they could go back to the community, then they would be back a week later because home didnt help, or alcohol was involved etc etc. So the job satisfaction of seeing someone get better wasnt there for me and felt some of them had a pretty bad long term prognosis. And sometimes their stay on the ward was a better option than home! As they were fed, supervised, nursing care etc.
For me, I am the same as StephMom, my family has an extensive history of mental illness and that was another reason for me. I also didnt agree with the way some doctors hand out antipsychotics and other drugs like candy as a quick fix. I figured out pretty quickly that mental health wasnt for me. But I also know some people that LOVE the complexity of mental health nursing. I found some of the mental health nurses quite kooky (in a good way) to be dealing with what they deal with and I really admire them, I just know its not for me. Does this help at all? Maybe speak to some people that work in the area too and see what they think! All the best! :)