How do you know?????

[kaitlynsmomma]

How do you know or decide what department you want to work in after you graduate? Do you go through rotations and then decide, or do you just know? I am asking because I am not positive of where I want to work. I really thought I wanted to work in the NICU (where my daughter was for her first 3 weeks of life), but I feel like ICU, Pediatrics, PICU, L&D, and ER would all be soooooooooooooooo exciting too!! I also LOVE old people..............so I just don't know where I would be best at working. Any ideas on how to decide? :confused: :confused:

[altomga, ADN, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN]

It is a hard decsion to make when you graduate. I'm still not sure how I chose my unit. I always thought I would L/D, but a friend of mine worked on the unit I chose and even with the "bad" stuff she told me about it I still interviewed. Been there 5yrs now. (Medical Intermediate Unit) How about a pro/con thing. What really get's your heart pumping when you think about it. Have you tried to shadow a nurse in any particular unit? Just remember, if the place you choose ends up not the place you want; you can always transfer to another one. Sounds like you really want to work with kids someway or another though.:)

Good luck!

[sjoe]

Well, you just keep in mind the areas that interest you, apply and interview for areas that interest you, listen to what you are told in terms of ("I'd suggest you work med-surg for at least a year first," or whatever) and follow through on any job offers that seem like a "fit."

Particularly for your first job(s), the nursing/management/working environment will likely be much more important than the specific specialty, so trust your intuition about how you would like spending so much time on a particular unit with those particular potential co-workers and supervisors. THAT will be the source of most of the difficulties you encounter as well as the source of much of your job satisfaction, learning, sense of fulfillment, etc.

IMHO.

[MelRN13]

I knew once I got through all of my clinical rotations. You can usually narrow it down by the areas that you DON'T want to work in!!!

[redshiloh]

I agree, get some med-surg experience under your belt. I did'nt and it came back to haunt me later.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

Orthopaedics. Lots of old people,some traumas, lots of treatment and med experience and only one or two codes a year. They mostly get better and leave. Hardly anyone expires. They do tend to stay long enough for you to get to know them and see their progress.