Specialties?

[Anagarcia26]

Another question...

I'm thinking of getting into nursing. Can you specialize in Pediatrics or Surgical nursing? If so, what is the process. If anyone out there is in any of these 2 specialties, can you give me some information and words of wisdom? Pay information would help too.

[shyviolet78, LPN, LVN]

You can specialize in many different areas. For instance, Labor and Delivery, Mother/Baby; ICU (Neonatal, Pediatric, Medical, Surgical, or Coronary); Operating Room to name a few. In my area (Dallas/Ft. Worth), it's a post degree thing. After completing your degree, the hospital has internships in these areas, most are 3 months, I think. Operating room is a 1 year internship, with a commitment to work for 2 years after that. The pay rate for all these areas is the standard new grad pay rate, which here is $16.06. In smaller hospitals, you may be required to work in med/surg for 1-2 years before specializing. Many people recommend a year of med/surg before specializing, others say it is unnecessary. Also, for my BSN program, I have 6 hours of nursing electives, so I can take an advanced class in the area of nursing I'm interested in. There are also sign on bonuses which I have seen range from $1,000 to $30,000. (The $30,000 was a bonus for a critcal care area and required a 3 year work commitment.) Hope this answers some of your questions. :)