How many jobs/units until you found your "niche"

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Hi everyone,

I noticed there are many many nurses in this forum. This can be fun or not but I wanted to know how many jobs/units did you endure before you found your "niche" and what unit. Looking back are you glad you went through it, did it make you a more versatile nurse? I know of a few managers who would tell me their stories of what they went through to get to where they are. I hope this post would be inspiring and give hope to those that feel like they just can't find theirs.

Thanks in advance,

=0)

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

I found my niche on my fourth job, after five years. Two years on general medical/telemetry, two years on oncology and 1 year on hematology, bone marrow transplant. At that point, my brand new manager "volunteered me" to move to MICU. (I was the last nurse left on the unit who had more nursing experience than her, and she had already "volunteered" the other three to transfer within the system.) ICU is definitely my niche, and I've been working in various ICUs across the country for 35 years, or thereabouts. I love the intensity, the flexible scheduling and the opportunities to learn and grow.

Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

I haven't found it yet. I have done med-surg/oncology, hospice, ICU (very brief), LTC and

outpatient radiology. I have enjoyed several aspects of every job but cannot call any of those my niche.

I am doing med surg and outpatient PRN while I wait for the right opportunity.

Specializes in Critical Care.

I haven't found mine. I started in ICU as a new grad (med-surg ICU) then went to ED, then back to ICU at a different, larger hospital (med-surg-neuro ICU) and am now presently in PACU!

There are a couple more places I'd like to try ... Trauma might be my favorite so far!

This would be all in 4 years of Nursing.

I'm only out of school 2 years - I did Med/Surg/Telemetry/Float pool for the first 18 months and moved into a step down role in January. This is definitely NOT my niche...I had always wanted OB/Womens Health but after working with a few shrews as an extern in one place and getting dissed in another (which is the only 2 maternity units in my area) I don't know that I'll ever get into that role.

Caveat to say that I'm learning so much in this role but I don't know that I'll be here forever...

I've done med-surg, home health, OB, oncology, surgery, and school nursing. I've learned something from every area. I've stuck with school nursing the longest. I enjoy the school setting, the little kids, and the schedule. It works best for my family. I loved OB but it was super stressful to me. I really enjoyed oncology too. Those patients are so thankful for all you do for them. If I didn't have kids I'd probably still be at the hospital doing oncology. My kids hated not seeing me for three days in a row and grew very clingy on my days off which was not like them so I went back to school nursing. Every job has it's good and bad points. You just have to figure out which one you can live with.

Specializes in ICU, ER.

Not as experienced as many other posters, but 5 years in ER & 2 in ICU. good things about both; bad things about both. No perfection as of yet... nothing sublime.

This is a great poll btw! I think it would be a nice thing for many students to see. Its important to understand how big nursing really is and how many options you have! great topic!! 😊

Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.

Before I entered nursing school I was a Tech on an ortho floor that had an 8-bed ICU on one wing. Whenever there was a code I went to "help out" by running blood gases or somesuch. That action turned me on to nursing, so ICU was my dream job from the get go. As a student nurse I worked part time in the medical center that was affiliated with my school. My preferred unit was CCU where I got to do the scut work like drawing the q 8 hr CPKs from art lines. For a student that was very exciting! After graduation, however, I followed the logic of the time to start in Med-Surg before you specialize, and worked an Ortho-Neuro floor for a year. I totally did not like team leading 2 LPNs and a couple of Techs for 30 patients, so I transferred to IV Therapy. That didn't work out so well, as I had a personality conflict with the Manager and got transferred back.

Well, I didn't like Med-Surg any better the second time so I quit and took a job working nights on a Psych Unit. That was very interesting but once again not my niche. During my time there I apparently contracted some brain-crazy because I applied for and got a job as a nursing supervisor for a 50 bed rural hospital. Boy-o-boy what an eye-opening experience in the politics of nursing that was. Within six months I was chewed up and spit out. I tucked my tail between my legs and slunk even further out to the wilderness at a summer camp for Cerebral Palsy kids. Easy, safe, and a lot of fun. I got my confidence back and went for my big dream .... ICU!

So, I took a position working nights in an inner city Trauma Medical Center SICU. The job came with a preceptorship and critical care course that I absolutely ate up. I was so busy and fascinated by learning so much new stuff, I lost 30 pounds and got down to my fightin' weight. That was a super growth period for me but I still remember making some of my most regrettable mistakes. (miscalculating an insulin drip resulting in an am blood glucose of 16 !!) It turns out I was right about ICU and I loved that job. I would say to myself, "I can't believe they are paying me to do this".

I stayed in the ICU setting working Trauma, Neuro and Burn with a few forays into Travel Nursing for the next 20 years. For a little variety I also did Insurance Chart Audits and Interventional Radiology.

I've now settled into the PACU where it's well known that's where burntout ICU nurses go to die. I love the PACU and probably will die in harness some 10-15 years from now.

Answer to original question asked so long ago ..... that would be 5.

Specializes in pediatrics; PICU; NICU.

I knew before I graduated that my niche was anywhere without adult patients! I went straight into Peds after graduation & have never left. I've had many positions in different settings but it's always been Peds. There's not enough money in the world to make me work with adults!

I am not sure exactly what "niche" means. There is always a trade-off somewhere. What you are looking for is a changing thing.

I worked full time in med-surg for a year after graduation. It taught me how to manage an overwhelming workload, work with CNAs and manage my time. It was not my ideal job, but it was hospital employment that gave me the skills and experience I would need and am grateful for that.

ICU has worked out for me, especially since I work per diem and can pick my own schedule. The work is satisfying, but I am not sure about what happens when the kids are grown and I might want to go to full time work. ICU is great part-time.

I suspect my niche will be in procedural nursing.

Still looking for a plush, top-floor, corner office job paying northward of seven figures with scheduled naps q 1 hour with a bottomless bowl of M&M's.

Actually, I'd like to head up an informatics department before too long. Was always decently proficient at computers, and would enjoy customizing programs to make them more user-friendly for the nurses in the trenches.

Likes for the M&M's.

I came and passed my niche. Employee Health. They didn't have full time for me, so I had to wave bye bye.

Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

"Niche" is just one of those trend words that come and go, like 'do your thing' back in the 70's; never heard of having a niche job until I came onto AN.

I just wanted to be employed and get in as much experience and variety as I could. But my "thing" didn't include peds, indoor 9-5 and M-F work, burn unit, or OR..... so I just didn't go there. I'd apply at a hospital for a 3-ll position and just worked where ever they put me.

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