Preceptor choices

[nurselyn95713]

I am in the last leg of my exhausting fast track LVN to RN program. Once I pass my finals, I am faced with the daunting task of picking a specialty to precept in. I really want to know the pros and cons to picking one specialty versus the others... I am leaning towards ICU.... please help guide this weary soul! and a for your thought

[TazziRN, RN]

Personally, I think the ER is the way to go.........

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

Personally I think nurses do better if they have more experience before going to critical care because they need to learn to be a nurse first and there is so much demanded of critical care nurses. That said, many fine nurses start out there and do well. Remember, you can always change your mind. You are not accepting a job for life.

[sxybuttrfly]

i als0 did the lpn-rn fast track thing! 0ne 0f the best things i did, but anyh0w, have y0u c0nsidered precepting at a ltac? my precept0rship at a ltac was very fullfulling! these facilities 0ffer 0pportunity t0 care f0r a wide variety 0f patients with0ut the cha0s 0f h0spitals (admissions, a milli0n pe0ple everywhere)- while it's imp0rtant t0 deal with cha0s as a nurse, it's als0 important t0 use your precept0rship as a learning experience, a true learning experience. it amazes me h0w many students ab0ut t0 graduate have never actually been walked through a head-t0-t0e assessment! fine tuning will c0me, but having a c0ncrete baseline has made all the difference in my nursing w0rld.

[*ac*]

Do your preceptorship on the type of unit you think you want to work in. If you're thinking any kind of ER or critical care, go for it because it's much more difficult to get a job as a new grad on one of these units unless you did your school time on them.

It will also help you decide if it's really for you. If not, you can always get a job in med/surg, pediatrics, LTC, whatever.