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I have been working as a LPN for 5+ years. God willing I will be passing NCLEX this month and will begin to venture out from LTC into a hospital setting. My questions is kind of hard to explain but I'll just put it this way,

What do you love most about the speciality you are in? And did you're clinicals influence the route you took? I absolutely hate med surg and know I do NOT want to work on that floor. I also thought I wanted to be an OB or Peds nurse but after my clinicals do not feel like it is the fit for me but I am still convincing myself it may be. I am now considering ICU or ED but my clinical rotation for ED wasn't so exciting and ICU scares me at times. I also always wanted to get into forensics but don't hear too frequently about forensic nursing jobs. I'm just completely clueless as to what jobs to start applying for, did you take whatever job were offered to you or available? Any advice would greatly be appreciated :-)

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Specializes in ICU.

I thinking you need a masters for forensics nursing. Maybe you would fit into OR, PACU, or outpatient settings? Why do you absolutely hate medsurg? Coming from LTC where you have 30 patients, I would think having 5-6 would be a welcome change.

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I thinking you need a masters for forensics nursing. Maybe you would fit into OR, PACU, or outpatient settings? Why do you absolutely hate medsurg? Coming from LTC where you have 30 patients, I would think having 5-6 would be a welcome change.

I also thought that but for some reason I really did not like it. Also, working in LTC for so long sadly makes me feel somewhat discouraged from wanting to be a nurse anymore. The expectations are so high and unrealistic and I feel I can not provide quality care. maybe this is also why I'm having such difficulty thinking of a speciality, but I hope with the new opportunities I'll have as a RN I'll find something I'll enjoy.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

My clinicals did have some influence; I really enjoyed my rotation on a trauma/neuro floor while in school so applied for the neuro floor job I ended up taking. Likewise I learned that I didn't like psych or OR; ED and ICU were completely intimidating to me at that point. I applied to a variety of jobs because I didn't have a STRONG preference: the transplant floor of the same hospital, a children's hospital, the L&D unit of a smaller suburban hospital.

I do work ICU now; early in my career before rapid responses were a thing, I had some patients destabilize and found I kept my cool well and felt comfortable as I gave them my full attention until they were physically in the ICU. Confidence came with experience.

What do I love about it? I love caring for patients and families when they are in the worst situation of their lives. Many people have never seen the inside of an ICU and are overwhelmed at all of the machines. I feel like there's more collegial relationships with the MDs/RRTs/PharmDs than when I worked on the floor. And let's call a spade a spade: I like having at most two patients. Their needs are complex, but I find that easier than being spread between 5-7+ patients (who are too sick to go home, but are healthy enough to be demanding.) On the downside it can be emotionally exhausting. We can get a young healthy patient who has just suffered a horrific accident -- or put a bullet in his head, is not expected to survive the hour, and then comes the chaplain with a dozen sobbing family members.

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Thank you so much for your insight and sharing your experiences :)

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