New nurse picking a floor/specialty

[crazyeight]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to AllNurses and not 100% familar with the layout of this site yet, so I apologize if this is posted in the wrong section...

I just got hired at a medium-sized (400 bed) teaching hospital and I was given the chance to choose a floor/specialty in which to begin my nursing career. (Except ICU, Maternity or Peds)

I'm hoping the seasoned nurses on this forum can provide me with some insight as to which specialty is likely to give me the most valuable, well-rounded learning opportunities. (Or which one I should probably avoid as new nurse)

Thank you in advance!!!:)

P.S. - I understand that this is a very "subjective" question, but as I don't have any family members or close friends who are experienced RN's I feel like it couldn't hurt to ask for some guidance in making this choice. :)

[marie.rn2419, RN]

What are your interests? What clinical rotations did you enjoy? Where do you see yourself in 3 years? I don't know that there is a general right place to start, as everyone is different. If I were to share my opinion, receiving some cardiac/tele training would benefit you and make you more valuable in your future endeavors. Congrats on the opportunity. New grads are not often given their choice of units! :) Good luck

[crazyeight]

What are your interests? What clinical rotations did you enjoy? Where do you see yourself in 3 years? I don't know that there is a general right place to start, as everyone is different. If I were to share my opinion, receiving some cardiac/tele training would benefit you and make you more valuable in your future endeavors. Congrats on the opportunity. New grads are not often given their choice of units! :) Good luck

Thank you, I definitely feel like I've won the jackpot of new grad opportunities! I thought Oncology or Cardiac would be interesting. I have no experience from clinicals in Oncology, so I'm leaning a little more towards Cardiac. Thanks for your input!! :)

[purplegal]

I am guessing that the medical-surgical floor would give you a more rounded experience beginning as a new nurse, as they take all types of patients, just not ones who are as critical. From there, you can decide if you prefer cardiac, neuro, oncology, etc. patients. I personally would not recommend cardiac, as that was a difficult, unsuccessful experience for me as a new grad, but maybe you have some cardiac experience elsewhere. I can also see orthopedics as being a good choice for a new grad. Of course, if there's any way to find out what the orientation on each floor is like and familiarize yourself with the staff members, that may also help influence your decision of which floor to pick. Your coworkers and managers can make or break your experience. It does you no good to join a floor that has a specialty that you are interested in, but has coworkers who are not team members, who are not willing to work with you and do not consider you one of their own.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

I would shadow on all these floors to see the general environment of the floors and which floor would be supportive for a new grad. I would also inquire (while shadowing) about staff turnover and if they've had a lot of new grads (red flag) or a couple every year.

Inpatient Oncology - You will get patients in for chemo or patients who have other medical problems who also have cancer. May also be overflow for other med-surg units. It's a specialty and many nurses who work this specialty are very passionate about cancer care.

Cardiovascular Surgery - will learn a lot. Very interesting. Will have critical drips. Probably considered critical care "stepdown".

Cardiac - sounds like floor for chest pain rule outs, MIs, stable arrhythmias, and for those with other medical/surgical problems who need cardiac monitoring if your med-surg floors don't do tele. may see some critical drips (probably non titratable), considered "telemetry."

Neuro/Stroke - rule out stroke/TIAs. Any non critical neuro patients. Will have some/all tele beds.

Surgical - whatever surgeries other than ortho that the hospital does that needs to stay inpatient that does not need telemetry or critical care. I worked on a floor like as a new nurse. It also has ortho.

Medical - general medical that does not need cardiac monitoring and that is not sick enough for critical care. Medical patients will be seen on any med-surg unit.

Medical-Surgical Combination - Overflow of the other med-surg's most likely

Ortho/Surgery - mostly orthopedic, but probably surgical overflow from the surgical unit. Ortho teaches you how to move a patient and ambulate a patient. Pretty routine care. There are other units to start off on that will teach you more.