my likes: fast-paced, adventure, kicking back and relaxing, hands-on stuff like injections, maybe even some trauma, high pay (the higher the better), friendly faces.
my dislikes: a heavy workload, working my ass off, stress, psych and geri, teaching (if i wanted to teach, i'd get a teaching credential and be a teacher), talking to the patient (especially about random meaningless stuff), family members who stare at you, mean and strict supervisors who works you like a dog, nurses who don't seem to care or take their job seriously, nurses and doctors who are mean and unfriendly, doctors (and nurses) who think they are God and could care less about a nursing student like when i was in school, no collaboration between healthcare team (yes, your CNA is part of your team and is as important as the physician himself, and if you don't think so, then i wouldn't want to work with you).
what i like about the ER: fast-paced, adventurous, random patients (i dont see the same face each day), time flies, and you see all types of cases.
what i dislike about the ER: random patients (never know what kind of psycho will walk through that door), high risk for TB or similar type infection.
what i like about NICU: minimal talking to the patient, no TB risk (if i am correct), saving an innocent life.
what i dislike about NICU: very strict infection control (dont want to have to wash my hands every 5 minutes), teaching parents, giving emotional support or consoling parents when their baby dies, handling fragile preterm newborns.
what i like about the OR: patient is sedated so no talking to the patient, just "kick back" while the surgeon does the work, the trauma of a surgery (cool to watch).
what i dislike about the OR: when equipment malfunctions (i'm no techie).
what i like about Urgent Care: less critical cases than ER, seems more relaxing than ER.
what i dislike about Urgent Care: too many illegal immigrants seeking free services who can't afford to go to a real ER. you're limited in the type of patients you see (you don't see real trauma, like gunshot wounds, etc.).
sorry for being so blunt, but i need some advice other than to leave nursing because you might think it might not be for me (if i wanted to leave, i would already have). i am from los angeles and a new grad who just took the nclex recently and will assume for this thread's sake that i have passed. so, what unit sounds the best for me? thank you for your response.
not very "therapeutic" responses from most of you, not to mention judgmental. the first things i learned in school were about therapeutic communication, being nonjudgmental, and never assume and read into something that may not be true. where did you fellow nurses go to school? the only half-decent response was from NOCnewbie, recommending correctional nursing. in fact, i heard that is a great area to go into. it's kickback and pays great. i think that fits me too because i had wanted to be a police officer before i got into nursing. do they let the RN carry a gun? doubt it. that would be perfect for me. as far as not wanting to work with me, etc....that's fine because i wouldn't want to work with anyone who wouldn't want to work with me. remember, i don't work for you, so you're not my boss. i work for the patient. as a new grad RN in a high-demand profession with such shortage of nurses, i hold the cards and call the shots as to where i want to work and who with. boy, school sure has taught me how to be assertive well huh?
You are not assertive -- you go far beyond assertive. And despite nursing being a "high-demand" field (that is up for debate in many areas of the country), that is not going to guarantee you a job.
No kidding. I wouldn't recommend any unit in the hospital for you, especially the NICU. I mean, you don't even want to be bothered to wash your hands every five minutes.
This is all I wish to say to you, in the name of decency. Best of luck to you.
I love and appreciate your honesty. A lot of people wish they had a kickback high paying job, but not many nurses have the balls to say it because nurses have the crap beat out of them at work and they believe they have to put up with it because thats what nursing was, thats what nursing is, and that's what nursing will be. I work nights on a med/surg/tele floor at phoenixville hospital in very poor conditions and rn/pt. ratios, so needless to say my experience has been a negative one. But just because nurses put up with all the ******** that comes with nursing doesnt make them any better than nurses that choose not to deal with it and not to have that unnecessary stress and burnout in their lives. My advice to you is shadow for a few days each of the various areas of nursing that your interested in, and see how you still feel about it. the OR, a correctional facility, dialysis, or an office job might be good fits for you. Just do as much research as u can.
take care and have fun just as long as you know not everything will perfectly be the way you want it to be.
NewGrad08CA--I am sorry if my response to your original post was less than therapeutic. I was responding to you as a peer and not a patient. And we are certainly peers as I also live in CA and graduated from nursing school last year. I can tell you what is out there, and it's not as rosy as you seem to think. While there certainly is a shortage of nurses in this country, there is NO shortage of NEW GRAD nurses here in California. The schools are cranking them out faster than the hospitals are equipped to handle. Your school has probably filled your head with the same BS that I was fed. While it may have been true a few years ago that a new grad nurse would automatically get hired out of a preceptorship and/or could walk into any job s/he wanted, that is not the case today. There are so many of us now that hospitals can afford to be picky. Grow a new attitude. Practice humility.
When you do manage to find a job, you will have to work for a probationary period, during which you can be let go by the hospital for any reason, including poor attitude. They WILL let you go if they don't like you (especially if you are in a union hospital because it's their last chance to boot you before your union protection kicks in and makes it a major headache for them). I worked with a nurse who was let go on the last day of her probationary period (even after all the time and money the hospital had invested in her) simply because she had a terrible attitude. This woman had graduated top of her class in school.
I hope for your sake and the sake of your future patients that you are not as callous as your postings seem to me. If not, I hope that you come to your senses and leave nursing for a job you would enjoy more. And, lastly, I really hope that you didn't go to my nursing school.
You can still pick up things from babies in the NICU, such as infective agencts, and any other diseases that may have been passed to them from their mother. There are still isolation rooms in the NICU.
And as a recent, and very recent new grad; suggest that you try shadowing some nurses in some other areas and see what really gets done.
Have not seen one OR nurse sit around while the surgeon works, the nurse is actually responsible for all that gets done in that room, as well as what is going on during the procedure with that patient. They are the patient advocate and there for the patient as well.
And not sure if you have looked for a job yet; without any experience, you are not a saleable commodity to many facilities as you are going to require orientation before you will be caring for patients on your own. Things are not as rosy as you call it in your area for new grads if you have taken the time to take a look. Which means that they are paying you a salary but you are not in the count for the shift as you have not met their standards of being prepared as to how they want things done there.
Seeing one is not the same as knowing something and how it is done.
You should be the one investing your time in trying to decide what you wish to do, this is not the place for us to make that decision for you; we can offer suggestions if you come here with some idea of what you want to do, but with your attitude that you have used here, it is quite a turn-off to many. Sure, you may think that it is cute, but many employers also come here to read and see what is going on in the real world away from the hospital setting, and the internet is not as anonymous as one may think that it is.
As a fellow new grad in CA I have to disagree with your last response about holding the cards with a nursing shortage. It does NOT work that way. The fields that you were comtemplating are all specialty fields. The positions that need to be filled most are Med/Surg positions, everything you don't want to do from your post. All the OR positions here require previous work experience in the OR (tech, extern, etc). All the NICU positions require previous experience, all the ER positions usually require preceptorship or externship. Shall I go on? They may advertise that they are hiring new grads but the ones that get hired are ones with previous experience or from within an organization. The hospital where I work (for specialties) hires externs first, HCAs graduating from RN school, other people with previous experience from within the organization, other people with previous experience outside the org and THEN new grads in that order. So by the time they get through all the great people and get to you, you are LOW on their list. Of my fellow graduates this past fall, only myself and three other people were hired into specialties. The others had 1. worked in the OR for years as a scrub tech 2. worked for the hospital for 6 years as a unit clerk in L&D 3. Externed and precepted in ICU and 4. externed for a year in L&D. Everyone else is working med/surg.
I completely agree with NOCNewbie as well. She hit it on the head. Let us know if you do find that dream (fantasy?) job. If you didn't want to work hard, you got into the wrong profession. I don't know ANY nurses that don't work hard.
It sounds like your overall issues with nursing in general include malfunctioning equipment, talking with patients, caring for the un/underinsured, wasting time with infection control measures, working hard, stress, families.
I hate to break it to you, especially as a new grad, but welcome to the real world.
"my likes: fast-paced, adventure, kicking back and relaxing, hands-on stuff like injections, maybe even some trauma, high pay (the higher the better), friendly faces"
"Fast paced adventure + kicking back and relaxing" - ok, which is it?
We all want higher pay and friendly faces, darlin'....
It sounds like you want a relaxing job. My advice is to make sure you passed NCLEX and find a nice doctor's office job, like in plastic surgery, where patients aren't actually sick and vulnerable. Hopefully that will be relaxing enough for you.
Specializes in Med-Surg;Rehab;Gerontology; Now OR.
my likes: fast-paced, adventure, kicking back and relaxing, hands-on stuff like injections, maybe even some trauma, high pay (the higher the better), friendly faces.
my dislikes: a heavy workload, working my ass off, stress, psych and geri, teaching (if i wanted to teach, i'd get a teaching credential and be a teacher), talking to the patient (especially about random meaningless stuff), family members who stare at you, mean and strict supervisors who works you like a dog, nurses who don't seem to care or take their job seriously, nurses and doctors who are mean and unfriendly, doctors (and nurses) who think they are god and could care less about a nursing student like when i was in school, no collaboration between healthcare team (yes, your cna is part of your team and is as important as the physician himself, and if you don't think so, then i wouldn't want to work with you).
sorry for being so blunt, but i need some advice other than to leave nursing because you might think it might not be for me (if i wanted to leave, i would already have). i am from los angeles and a new grad who just took the nclex recently and will assume for this thread's sake that i have passed. so, what unit sounds the best for me? thank you for your response.
your post makes me smile and be sad at the same time. :nuke: --- because at least you are honest and have really thought about what in nursing you like and dislike. ---- because ---- good lord, what is the future of nursing gonna be like if most of new grads are like you?
let's see...dislikes---stress, working your ass off, a heavy workload---- oh boy, whoever told you nursing was gonna be a piece of cake ought to be punished. i can't think of any kind of nursing that is stress free. maybe, school nursing...ummm nursing informatics....or maybe i'm wrong.
you dislike talking to the patient...family members who stare at you...
there are just so many flags in your post that tells me that you will really hate nursing when you get out of school. but please prove me wrong, i would love to hear about your working experience after a year.
as for the units you've mentioned, i think you should try for er or urgent care. a community hospital er because you dislike teaching, not a level i trauma because it would be so busy.
or is a lot of stress and hard for a new grad with a not so positive attitude, like you. or nurses like to eat their young also, sad but true. "kick back" in the or??? nicu - i always think of nicu nurses as these nurturing, loving people, they hold these tiny, tiny babies in their arms, they teach and give the parents support. those are the most difficult times of their lives and you will have to deal with these parents.
i hope there's more to you than what is in your post. good luck.
---- because ---- good lord, what is the future of nursing gonna be like if most of new grads are like you?
MikeyJ, RN
1,124 Posts
You are not assertive -- you go far beyond assertive. And despite nursing being a "high-demand" field (that is up for debate in many areas of the country), that is not going to guarantee you a job.