Senior nursing student undecided on specialty and needs to pick one soon!

[morelaur]

Hey there my fellow nurses,

So I am in my last semester of nursing school and where I live, the local hospitals have opened applications to apply. I submitted applications to 4 hospitals. The one I really want to work at requires us to pick our specialty of choice and we only get to interview with that department's nurse manager. I picked the ICU because I felt at the time it was a good fit for my personality; I'm detail-oriented, intelligent and analytical. I also enjoyed my ICU clinical in school. However, I suffer from an anxiety disorder and I worry sometimes that it will hinder me from being successful in the ICU. I see my anxiety as being both beneficial and crippling at the same time. For one, it makes me more careful, alert, and in tune to potential problems. I feel like it is part of the reason I am able to learn so quickly and remember information.... but on the other hand, I don't know if I could critically think under pressure like in a code situation (I don't know because I've never actually been in one). That, coupled with all the stories I've heard about how stressful the ICU is, have me second guessing my decision. I know Med Surg is not for me because having 5 patients at a time scares me, but I have considered maybe starting on a Tele or Step-down unit first before going to ICU.

I'm just curious, do any of you nurses work in the ICU and suffer from an anxiety disorder? If so, have you been successful and how? Would you recommend I start on a lower acuity unit first before going to an ICU setting?

Would love some feedback from you lovely nurses. My interviews are next week and if I'm going to change specialties, I have to do it soon!

Thanks in advance : )