In a common quandary...

[Delirium, RN]

Hey y'all!

I'm a jr nursing student trying to figure out what I want to start out as in nursing.

I've heard from many people to start out in a Med/Surg floor for experience, but I don't want to be a floor nurse. Others say it doesn't matter- if you want to start in something you like/love (aka peds, OB, etc), do it and if you want to change, there will always be refresher courses.

I like that advice, but I also would like travel nursing and many agencies require that one year of med/surg experience.

Another thing I want to try is forensic nursing (maybe even medical examiner assistant), but I want to shadow a FN because I'm afraid I have a romanticed idea of forensics from TV and when I actually start doing it I may not like it. Plus, wouldn't that also require med/surg experience?

I basically want to try everything because I have no idea what I like in nursing. How did you RNs decide what to go into? Did you start with what you always loved? are you still doing it? or did some of you just start in a general specialty and move around?

My mind tends to flip flop. For example, I would like to be an OR nurse, but I'm not a Mon-Fri 7am person. I need to sleep in... hehehe...I like working nights and don't mind working weekends, etc.

I'm asking because after I graduate I have a job with a hospital that needs to know where to put me for orientation. I am looking around on this forum at the specialties to see what they all involve, but I was just curious to hear personal stories. :cheers: