Looking for something different!

Wow! Broad start! What are your favorite things about your current job? And what things (work or otherwise) do you feel like you are really good at? That might give us a starting place.

Good question! I guess I should have known to be a little more specific...let me think here...

Im somewhat of a new nurse still.

Likes:

Post op surgery patients

Doing nursing skills (foley placement, IV, dressing changes)

I am very good at staying calm through tough situations

I am very flexible with patients and situations

i am very good at being kind....and always try to find a solution with patients and family's

Dislikes:

Worrying about patients falling/dementia

5-6 patients (sometimes that is staffing issue)

Taking care of the same medical problems

(See the same stuff all the time)

Doesnt really keep me on my feet or maybe not exciting or challenging enough?

I hope this helps! I should sit down and actually think about what I am good at and what I like most...never thought about it!

I also thought about being more specialized too....I enjoy the renal patients.

Well what about a post-op floor. Surg-onc? (Lots of post-op, tubes, draines, dressings, etc) Lots of variety of diagnoses. Maybe ... CT surgery? Surgical Urology?, Post Cath? You name it, its out there. Just gotta figure out what things you like and how much of what you don't like that you can still tolerate

What about a faster pace environment? I just transferred from surgical patient care to SICU and I am loving it so far! I was in the same boat. I worked on the floor a little over a year and i loved what I did but knew it was time to go. I didn't feel and challenged anymore and also staffing/patient load was getting crazy. Is there any particular specialty that seems interesting to you??

I feel like there is so many possibilites, I love hearing everyone elses experience. I do need something more fast paced I think (not that med surg cant be fast enough:)) I was thinking maybe ER.

I like my surgery people so maybe SICU is a good place to look at! How many patients do you get? What kind of surgery's do you see?

I like the tubes,drains and all that! Great comments! I will have to keep my eyes peeled. I do like urology also, but I have not seen any jobs for that.

Definitely ER! You get to do a lot of task type things (iv's, foleys, NGs, etc), you see lots of different things, there's rarely a dull moment, and you get to help patients and families navigate a very stressful time but it's time limited for you so if they're tough, you don't have to come back the next day and see them again! Also if you stay calm during tough times, that would be a major asset in ER.

Look at your current place of employment's internal job openings. See what the requirements are for a position in the ER or other area that may pique your interest. Then apply....

Patient load is 1:1, 1:2... Rarely 1:3 or if the patient is that bad, they can be 2 or 3:1 patient. But you honestly do everything- direct care. I just switched to nights and i feel as if i have more lax time and able to lern more compared to days. We get all the surgical patients but especially trauma patients. So alot of mva motorcycle accidents, falls, gunshots and stabbings besides general surgery patients with complications. But not all sicus are like that. Some hospitals have sicu and a trauma Icu. ohhh you sure would get all those drains and lines and whatnot