How did you know what you wanted to specialize in?

[coolblue2]

As a nursing student people are always asking me what I want to specialize in. While I have a pretty good idea I would like to hear from you all with experience. How did you know what area of nursing you wanted to be in? When did it come to you and how long after graduating did you get into your field of choice?? Did you get right in? Is there an area that you wish you could get into??

I have had one professor tell me over and over again to do two years in med/surg then decide. I do know that I will go on for my Masters and become an NP but that is still a long ways off.

[breezy7, BSN, RN]

Right now, I'm really interested in L&D. My mom has talked to me about her L&D nurse from my delivery so many times. They kept in touch afterward and had a really strong bond, and I'd love to do something similar for my patients.

[Larry77, RN]

In a good nursing school you should be exposed to a number of specialties...find one that interests you and go for it. Yes it's usually easier to start on med-surg but try to do it in a hospital system that you want to work the specialty in...easier to transfer intrasystem. I thought I wanted to work ICU when I was in nursing school because I thought that's where the "smart" nurses were...turns out I was bored when I did my ICU hours...but I loved the ED. I worked for a year on med/surg then transferred to the ED and have never looked back.

Most of the nurses I know started nursing school thinking they wanted one specialty then ended up in another--keep an open mind.

Good luck!

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

I always had the suspicion that I wanted to be an ER nurse. I'd thought about ICU too because I'm drawn to high pressure, adrenaline-y environments. I spent a day in the ICU in school and was both bored (two patients all day, and my nurse told me they usually cared for the same patients while they were there) and sad about my patients (one was a mother of 3 whose 23 year old daughter was POA and was going to be getting custody of her 14 year old brother when they made the decision to d/c treatment on mom- and I was on the verge of tears when the family was in there with her; the other was an old man who was also dying and that was sad too). I spent 3 days in the ER and loved every minute of it and my classmates teased me for the dopey grin I got on my face each day I was sent to the ER.

The surprise for me was loving peds. It was just never something I'd thought about but I ended up working in a peds ER and LOVE working with kids. Love it. Stickers are magic, I can make cheesy jokes, give hugs and popsicles, and even though the sad times are very sad, the sad times are actually pretty rare. My coworkers are great, and I love the constantly shifting priorities.

It's ok not to know- many of my classmates didn't, and in the current market it's probably not a bad thing to be completely open to the opportunities that do come your way.