Need help choosing the right unit to work!!!

[formovies4]

Hey guys,

I am one of those new male nurses who is still confused at picking the right area to work in. I know nursing can be very stressful and i may not be working where i want. But i really hope u can suggest few areas for me. i would love to work in a less stressful, slow paced environment, possibly in a hospital setting, and with less patient ratio. I heard OR would be a nice place to work and so as PACU. I was also interested in doing triage. Pleaseee send me a reply with ur expertise, thanks in advance!

[prepcub]

I am similar to the OP...I just know the no's...peds and mother/baby and the like. Otherwise I am open. These posts are helpful because I don't know what I want to do...but given the economy who hires new grads will drive what depts hire. At least where I am. I think the ICU and ER may be a bit much for me to start but I think with a year of experience I'd be interested (because it's looking like med/surg, med/tele, ortho, etc.).

Thanks for the info...other input is appreciated.

[sserrn, BSN]

There are no new grad RN jobs that are low stress. Idk if there are any RN jobs that are low stress. I just finished orientation for an ER position. I have been an RN for about 3 wks...and it feels good. :) Now I have 11 wks of precepting to do. Um, here's my advice...don't think you need m/s experience first. That's silly. Now, if that's what you WANT to do--and that's awesome if so--do it. Otherwise, do what you think you'll love.

For me, I think that's ER. People say your personality decides where you should go--like, you should be outgoing to be an ER nurse or maybe laid back to be an OR nurse. I don't buy any of that. There are good nurses with different personalities in each specialty. The Q is which specialty would you love. My mom says every job sucks, but if you like what you do it makes it tolerable. Kind of a more worldly version of "if you love your work you'll never work a day in your life." lol

To me, I like the ER because it's lots of procedures (foleys, IVs, splinting, etc.) and you see every kind of pt. imaginable (geriatric, psych, oncology, peds, cardiac) and you don't have them for days! In a good ER, you hopefully won't even have them for the whole shift! And I'm not super calm under pressure, but I think I am enough to be a good ER nurse.

Anyway, just my 2cents, and I hope you find what you love and try not to become jaded. I'll be right there tryin' with ya. :-)