RN Specializing

usually after graduation, if you are lucky you get straight into specialties like ER, ICU, OR, L&D, NICU, NCC, CCU, PACU, etc, etc, but there are some specialties that are unlikely to hire new grads, such as cath lab, research nurse, case management being one of them. most of the unfortunates (former I) go to medsurg floor and gain enough exp to move on. It's really recommended in my experience to go to specialty you want from the get go, but who knows you might like bedside care. I hate bedside care. Then there are clinic, school, doc office, doctor's nurse, insurance nursing, UR, public health and all other sorts of stuff; some people call somethings "specialty" and some people don't. For example, I don't think floor, clinic, or school is a specialty, but others might differ in their opinion, and I respect their opinion. but ya, what do you want to do?

I was looking at specializing in ER/ Trauma and Pediatrics. Ive been told that you can specialize in more than one area so I will just do both or choose. So if I wanted to specialize in ER and I just graduated would I apply for an ER nurse or just an RN somewhere and then specialize while i work there? I would like to get about a ear of experience and then start to do traveling nursing.

When you graduate you can apply to jobs that hire new grads. Most openings will list the requirements to apply and number of years experience required or preferred. You can try to get a New Grad residency that allows you to get into the specialty that you want. In this current environment, most new grads have to take any job that they can get to get experience. The better your resume looks (content, not design) the better the chance of getting your dream job. High GPA, Dean's List, Senior Capstone in the specialty that you are interested in, healthcare experience will all help you stand out above other grads that want ER/Trauma.

Most people only specialize in one area at a time, but you can combine specialties such as ER/Trauma and Pediatrics by working in the ER of a children's hospital.

Not a lot of travel companies will hire a nurse with only one year of experience. The expectation is that you will be able to go to a unit and be able to function fully independently after maybe one shift of orientation. Nurses with 1 year of experience are still essentially new grads.

I know my viewpoint on this is considered 'old style', but I still think there's a GREAT deal of value to be placed in beginning one's nursing career on an acute care, medical-surgical unit. On this type of floor you will learn many, MANY skills, and expand your education immensely. Nursing school was a STARTING point for me to begin work in med-surg; after a couple of years I was shocked not only at how much I had learned, but at how much was still out there YET to learn!

In this type of environment, you'd be exposed to virtually all the different specialties within nursing: ortho, peds, maternity, GI, respiratory, neurology, endocrinology, pain management....you name it. Anything and everything. I think the ONLY thing we didn't see on my med-surg unit was a live birth and brain surgery. Pretty much everything else, though!

Anyway, just putting out there that this can be a GREAT way to break into an area of nursing you didn't know existed, OR that you WANT to go into but CAN'T because you have no experience. A couple of years of med-surg will give you a cartload of experiences; many transfer to L&D, ICU, ED, dialysis, oncology, home health, hospice, clinics....everywhere.

Good luck!

I'm not a big believer in specializing early on. I must be old-school too because I think there is no better place then a Med-Surg Unit for a new grad. You will learn all the basics, hard stuff, and everything in-between. You will carry that experience with you forever... and it's GOOD experience. In this economy... I would never start out in a specialty unless I KNEW that is all I wanted to do forever. You want to be more marketable then just one specialty place. Besides all that... you'll see a little bit of everything on med-surg and really get a feel for what you like and don't like. I swore I would NEVER do pediatrics in school.... now that's the area I love. So.... you just never know.

most of the unfortunates (former I) go to medsurg floor and gain enough exp to move on. It's really recommended in my experience to go to specialty you want from the get go, but who knows you might like bedside care.

I'd like to correct the misconception that med-surg is not a specialty in and of itself. It is a certification that is administered through the ANCC.

Medical-Surgical Nursing

There is also a progressive care certification available (stepdown).