Im a student, what kind of nursing do i want? Experienced help

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Hey everyone, my name is mike and i am a freshman in college. Many of you may say this is early to start thinking about it, but im the type who has to know everything right away, if you follow me haha. I like to have a while to think about things.

I was currently in athletic training but changed my major to nursing. My current gpa is a 3.7. I am a competitive bodybuilder and dont want to give up my goals on that, but i also want a family, have a wife and be a great father. As much as i dont want to give up any part of bodybuilding, i am willing to give it up if i entirely have to in order to give my kids a great life.

I dont really no all the different types of nursing out there, but i want to work higher up. For instance in the ICU, or trauma unit. How flexible are nursing hours, and when your working, are you busy constantly your entire shift?

Thanks a lot, any information would be greatly appreciated. Asking the questions i want answered is extremely hard, because i do not no how to put it into words.

Mike

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Welcome Mike. I'm not a nurse--yet! But..from everything I've seen (which is ALOT LESS than many other posters here!) hours/days are very flexible depending where you live/what types of facilities are in your area. Not to dis on bodybuilders or anything--but I respect you for looking into something a little more practical-- do not give up on what you love, but there will always be a job in nursing! Good Luck!!

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Absolutely no reason why you can't have what you want and be a nurse too. Working ICU and other critical care units is not "higher up", though. It's more specialized but not higher up. You can work any shift you want to apply for, and as many hours as you want in terms of being part time or full time, and you can work overtime if you wish and you're needed.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
Asking the questions i want answered is extremely hard, because i do not no how to put it into words.

Mike

Mike,

Welcome. It sounds like you know how to ask questions just fine!

Ron

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Specializes in ICU, ER.

You can have very flexible hours. In most cases, you will be very busy most of the time in med-surg, ICU and ER (I'm not saying other areas are not busy-these are the only areas in which I've worked).

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Specializes in CCU,ICU,ER retired.

From what I have seen, men seem to enjoy a faster pace than some. You can generally get any hours except days or a.m. shifts. Those are out there but not as much as other shifts. Faster paced jobs are Critical Care Units of any kind and those are Cardiac,Pulmonary,Burn, Surgical, and Medical units. This is usually how big urban hospitals are set up. Then you have the ERs. Your bigger hospital will have Trauma ER's, which includes a surgeon on site that is qualified for immediate surgery. Most hospitals have an ER some are bigger than others. They can treat, but if they can't deal with the injury and/or sickness they will stablize and transfer to one that can. Med surg has the less critical. Then there is mothers and babies and pediatrics

I enjoyed Critiacal Care for about 30 year mostly focusing on Cardiac and pulmonary. I miss it a lot since I was forced to retire.

One of then best thing I realized early on was nurses will alway find a job The market for nurses is wide open. I rasied 3 kids on a nurses salary, sometimes alone. But I always had a job.

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From what I have seen, men seem to enjoy a faster pace than some. You can generally get any hours except days or a.m. shifts. Those are out there but not as much as other shifts. Faster paced jobs are Critical Care Units of any kind and those are Cardiac,Pulmonary,Burn, Surgical, and Medical units. This is usually how big urban hospitals are set up. Then you have the ERs. Your bigger hospital will have Trauma ER's, which includes a surgeon on site that is qualified for immediate surgery. Most hospitals have an ER some are bigger than others. They can treat, but if they can't deal with the injury and/or sickness they will stablize and transfer to one that can. Med surg has the less critical. Then there is mothers and babies and pediatrics

I enjoyed Critiacal Care for about 30 year mostly focusing on Cardiac and pulmonary. I miss it a lot since I was forced to retire.

One of then best thing I realized early on was nurses will alway find a job The market for nurses is wide open. I rasied 3 kids on a nurses salary, sometimes alone. But I always had a job.

I just want to say thank you for all the replies from everyone!

Just out of curiosity, that kind of scares me. As i get older and have a family, i think im going to want to work am to mid day shifts so im home at night to spend time with my kids and be with my wife. If my wife works 8-3 or something like that, kids are in school during that time, im going to be at home. THen i go to work when there all home and i have no family life?

How does that work? I am family oriented.

Mike

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Specializes in nursery, L and D.

Maybe a 7-3p shift is for you, you will be home with your wife (if she is working 8-3), kids will be in school, or if they are too young for that there are a lot of hospitals with day care on site. Maybe you could do ER for a while, get to see lots of stuff (everything, if fact) and maybe you will pick up on what you want to do there. If you like the cardiac pts, then you will know that may be for you,etc, if you know what I mean. Might be a great place to start, or it could be the place you end up wanting to be forever. I know our ER is the most flexible in scheduling too.

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Maybe a 7-3p shift is for you, you will be home with your wife (if she is working 8-3), kids will be in school, or if they are too young for that there are a lot of hospitals with day care on site. Maybe you could do ER for a while, get to see lots of stuff (everything, if fact) and maybe you will pick up on what you want to do there. If you like the cardiac pts, then you will know that may be for you,etc, if you know what I mean. Might be a great place to start, or it could be the place you end up wanting to be forever. I know our ER is the most flexible in scheduling too.

Wow, im glad to here that! ER and OR are my main interests! I was just concerned because i heard its hard to get an AM shift but of course, coming out of college i would work anything. Down the line in 6-7 years im going to have kids, and wife and all if my life plays it out the way i hope, so i would want AM shifts.

Whats a reasonable salarie for an ER/OR nurse if possible? I have heard many different things.

Mike

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Salaries differ greatly from state to state, and even within states.

ER would be more flexible than OR. OR nurses take call, so if there's an emergency in the off hours the on call staff has to come in for cases. Nice thing about the ER is that, since you chart as you go, you can almost always get out on time.

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