Nurse of all Trades, Master of none....

[NurseCurtis]

Hello fellow nurses! This is my first post here, although I have enjoyed reading your threads for several years now.

I need some career advice. In the past 4 years since I have been an RN, I have been in the OR, (loved it) then transitioned to CVICU when the opportunity presented itself because I had plans of moving on to CRNA school. I spent my required year and a half there, when a family tragedy struck, and I had to move to another state. I spent 6 months caring for a sick family member (teenaged quad) and then it became neccesary to return to hospital nursing (which I missed greatly!) However, after having been out of the CVICU so long, I was not able to get a job in that specialty, and the pay rates for other areas were dismal-- so I took a job in a LTC facility. After 6 months, I was finally able to return to hospital nursing-- working for an agency that staffed a VA hospital on a post-surgical acute floor (med-surg). I stayed there a year and adoredd it! Then, family circumstances required I move back to my home state, and in less than 1 and 1/2 years I have bounced from rehab (agency) to Ambulatory surgery (only epidural steriod injections and the like) and really felt as though I was not realizing my full potential, nor being challenged as much as I'd like. I feel I have lost many clinical skills-- can't start an IV for the life of me--(thanks IV teams--although we love ya!) and l try to keep some of my ICU/OR knowlege fresh by continuing my memberships with their professional groups-- but reading is nowhere NEAR practicing. I do like med-surg, but face it-- with the lack of CNA's or PCT's, it's one helluva hard job on a person's body.

FINALLY, after searching high and low for someone to give me a break and re-orinet/precept me, I have been offered TWO positions in a Level II Trauma center close to home.

Position #1: CCU. WIth my previous cardiac experience, I am drawn to this one, although I understand its quite different from recovering fresh hearts. 12hr. Nights.

Position #2: TICU. Now, I have worked OR before, but have NEVER worked with Trauma patients-- as any OR nurse will tell me, elective surgery is quite different from trauma, and I wonder how I will fare seeing young people disfigured from MVA's and GSW's, as opposed to nice clean cuts from say-- a TKR. Also 12 hr. nights.

Both positions are VERY appealing to me, and require an 18 month commitment. I do plan to travel in the next 5 years, and know that almost alll hospitals have a CCU, although not all have Trauma ICU, so if I got with the TICU, I may be less marketable for a travel position.

In all honesty, I think I'm drawn to TICU because of the "Hero-Nurse" complex, although we are all heroes to someone everyday. I'd also love to branch into Trauma Flight Nursing-- which is an even deeper sub-specialty.

If none of this pans out, I am considering joining the Air Force. I'll get my traveling one way or the other!

Thanks for reading this far, and any advice would be greatly appreciated!