How to tell??

Thecommuter, do you want to tell us what you really think?

I once worked at a small hospital where I had lots of contact with the nurses, and the nurses on the different units had very distinct personalities and likes and dislikes.

ICU nurse: "You couldn't pay me enough to work in L&D. I cannot stand to see people in pain."

L&D nurse: "I hated every minute of ICU. All those dying people."

Med/surg nurse: "Skilled nurse - what a waste of time. Those people never really get better."

Skilled nursing nurse: "Med/surg is boring. We get to see these people learn how to take care of themselves again."

I have known a number of nurses who burned out in psych or L&D, or their unit closed or whatever, having chose that specialty because most of their patients were mobile and not physically sick, who transferred to the OTHER specialty for the same reason.

I sorta fell into heme/onc by accident way back when, now I can't imagine doing anything else.

You simply need to be knowledgeable regarding your likes and dislikes, and make the most informed decision based on these personal tastes.

I personally cannot stand to be around infants, children, or teenagers, so the specialties of the PICU, L&D, postpartum, peds, or the NICU would be totally out of the question for me. I cannot stand constant stress, quick decisions, "thinking on my feet," fast paced areas, or critical situations, so the specialties of the ICU, the ER, MICU, SICU, or CVICU, or any critical care area would be out of the question for me. I also think that whining, needy adults and their abusive family members are disgusting, so the specialties of med/surg, long term acute care, rehab, and dialysis wouldn't fit me well.

I like psychiatric nursing, because the patients are typically nice to the nurse as long as they receive their meds in a timely manner. In addition, most psych facilities place very strict limits on family member visits. I like Alzheimer's lockdown units because the patients are too confused to make any demands of me, and many of the family members no longer visit. The OR seems appealing because of very limited contact with abusive family members, and the patient is only conscious for a limited time. Developmental disabilities nursing is fun because the mentally retarded patients are usually pleasant, happy to have your attention, and the families are thankful for the care being provided.

I couldn't agree more!

I have enjoyed many different areas of nursing. I started in Med-surg, moved to ICU/CCU then to med/surg/neuroICU and critical care transport(flight nurse),travel nursing in Trauma and Open Heart, back to ICU, that facility closed so I supervised in a large geriatric and rehab facility while figuring out where to go next. I am currently working telemetry and I am preparing to interview to travel as a nurse again. After my time in geriatrics I tried to go back to ICU but found I like talking to my patients and their families and teaching them so I transferred to telemetry part way through my orientation. ICU is too task oriented for me right now, it was perfect at one time.

My first job was more what was available with the hours I needed to work during a divorce and supporting 3 kids.