why did you pick the speciality you are in?

somenurse · Dec 7, 2012

My "specialty"?? was FLOATING.

At my very first job interview, the person asked me, "What is your goal in nursing?"

and without hesitation, i replied, "I want to do it all. I want to work in every field of nursing that i hear of."

She replied, "I have never heard anyone say that before."

but, i was sure that was what i wanted.

And pretty much, i have met my goal. :yes: (details in the "About Me" section of my page here.) There's only a handful of depts or areas of nursing, that i can think of,

that i haven't worked in.

of course, this was back in the heyday of an actual nursing shortage,

and

we moved about every 2 years, as well,

so getting hired and trained in new depts, back then, was far far easier, than it is today. So i was lucky.

NursieNurseLPN, LPN · Dec 7, 2012

Jean marie- your career sounds like a dream to me! While its intimidating to think about starting new at all those different places, i crave that knowledge. Ive never known exactly where i want to end up, but ive always known i wanted to be competent in various settings. And how interesting it must be to be continually learning!!! I strive to have a career as successful as yours!

wish_me_luck, BSN, RN · Dec 7, 2012

Oh, Ms. (?) Meriwhen, so that's how you got your start. I, for one, am glad you had to start in psych because you sound like a "baller" nurse (it means awesome). I am appreciating everyone's stories, keep 'em coming.

I am so glad that I did find an area that I absolutely fell in love with. Now, to find that first public health job....(would totally take a psych or med surg job if I couldn't get public health right off).

Any NPs? Why did you want to be an NP? Any CRNAs? Like I said, love the stories, keep sharing. :up:

Roseyposey · Dec 8, 2012

I have worked in some very different nursing settings - public health, urgent care, med/surg, private ASC, now PACU. I didn't have a clue in nursing school what I wanted to do. I have been fortunate to be able to test-drive some different options, and while I found that some were not for me, I have learned from each experience. Public health gave me a real insider's view of people's healthcare challenges - actually going into the home gives you the whole picture. I also learned how to case manage and learned my community's resources. I didn't like the work, but am grateful for the experience. Urgent care taught me a very broad variety of skills, how to conduct a focused interview, and how to think and respond quickly - the pay was just extremely low. My first job as a new RN was on a surgical floor, and it was rough, stressful, and burned me out fast. I would not, however, trade the skills I gained. I have set down roots in the PACU, and I love it. Surgery and pain management are my passions. I work with an amazing bunch of nurses - we bicker like family sometimes, but we watch out for each other. We have a good relationship with our docs, especially our anesthesiologists, and I have a manager who is very present if we need her, but hands-off at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I have bad days and stresses with "the system" like everyone else, but the good days outnumber the bad. I am pursuing my MSN/FNP now and am very torn about the prospect of once again finding my "place," but am confident I will figure it out!