iDeftones

Hi there! I'm an Allergy/Asthma RN from NJ. I signed in after a few years just to respond, lol! In a nutshell: it's nice. :) Really though, it all depends on the doctor(s) you work for--and that's true for ANY private practice. Allergists tend to be nicer though, because they're not so stressed out. When you go to interview, try to not just let them interview YOU, but also interview the people you'd be working with as well. What will you do? Not too sure about the ENT part honestly. But re: asthma you'd do things like PFTs, resp. tx (usually with a follow up PFT) and teach about different drugs, how/when to use them, what to do in an emergency, etc. Re: allergy, you'll do things like skin testing (usually just scratches), intradermal injections (a "deeper" skin test), allergy shots to build up immune defense, and things involving food allergies such as monitoring a pt while they eat foods for s/sx of anaphylaxis, possibly blood draws (actually most pts are sent to a lab for that) and then again, teaching about the allergies, how to avoid them, how/when to use an epi pen/benadryl, phone triage for pts who don't know how to handle a runny nose (haha). two grueling things: allergy seasons (typically spring and fall) can be nuts depending on the size of the practice, as well as camp/school forms. but you get VERY proficient at it. i used to be nervous for a few months but now it's pretty easy, and i sit a lot. :) be wary of "shot farms." these are places that are very unsafe, where doctors allow too much allergy serum to be recklessly injected into people who can be severely allergic to the antigens you inject them with, causing anaphylaxis. but, if you get into a good place, it's so worth it! i mean the pay isn't as good as a hospital, but it seems like allergy is an up and coming field that may turn into a very nice niche of nursing care. and the doctors do really need you there to help their days flow nicely, imagine if they had to do everything i just listed AND take the pt's H&P? just make sure you work for nice, responsible doctors with a good team, and you'll be very happy (if money isn't everything to you). pay is still pretty good, but not near hospital pay. don't work for anything less than $23-$25/hr, depending on where you work.

The hospital I'd be going to has a 16 week orientation, and has quite the supportive atmosphere for new employees (it's also located in Montana, a place where people in general are just so damn nice). In addition I'm told they even have a free charge nurse, with no patients, who rotates around to each nurse, asking if she needs help. The nurse manager is so nice, she works overtime regularly so the nurses under her can take a vacation. Whoa. This is why I think it's a golden opportunity--instead of being thrown into the fire, I think I'd get a really solid background before I decide to move on--likely, back to New Jersey (where I'm from), a place whose hospitals have as of late been ripping new grads off a decent orientation to save the almighty dollar (and putting many patients in danger). For those of you who were new grads and went into the NICU, how long did it take for you to feel competent? I read a lot of these posts about new grads going into Med Surg/ICU/ANY floors, and how awful their first year is. Is it the same in the NICU? Thanks for all the well wishes!

Hmmm, never looked at it that way. I guess the skills I learn in the NICU can travel over to other departments, especially basic things like time management, etc. And anyone can be trained to use different machinery... Well, maybe. Thanks for your input! I feel much better. :)

I honestly don't know. In my school I haven't spent much time outside of Med-Surg, with maybe the exception of a few weeks here and there, so I really haven't been very exposed to ANY field of Nursing. I did spend an evening in the NICU at the hospital where I was offered the job, and it seemed like a nice place to be, but as we all know, looks can be deceiving. But when I was in there... something just felt "right."

Hi, and thanks in advance for taking the time to read my post and offer your advice/opinions. I'll be graduating this January (Diploma), and as my mother is also an RN, I have been given what I consider somewhat of a golden opportunity for... being her daughter, I guess. I've been offered a job in a level III NICU, which would include cross training in the Nursery, and Post Partum should I so decide. However, I'm concerned that if I take a job in an area so specialized, I won't be marketable in other areas if I decide to change my career and...do OR, for example. Coming from a school whose clinical experience heavily focuses on Med-Surg (at least 6 weeks per semester--usually more) I've been trained to feel it's necessary to have that sort of experience under my belt to be considered valuable. Is that really true? I don't want to be a Med-Surg nurse, ever. Eventually, I'd like to move into research nursing, and possibly Nurse Education (I think, anyway). Anyway, the point of this post is... There are just sooo many paths in Nursing that I'm overwhelmed and don't know where to begin, and am afraid that if I go into the NICU, I'll be stuck there forever. Of course, once I get there I may like that idea! LOL Your thoughts?