Sooo...why do you love your line of nursing?:-)

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Apr 21, 2010

Specialty: School Nursing

How I chose it: I always thought it would be an interesting area of nursing, and I thought it would be something I would pursue once I had school-age kids. I was miserable in the hospital and a job offer for school nursing came totally out of the blue and unexpectedly (I was not even looking and actually resisted interviewing until I was begged). I decided what the hay and went for it. I joke that I did not choose this specialty, God chose me for it :)

What I love about it: #1 the KIDS! They are great and I love being THE nurse. I have ran into kids at the mall and they proudly introduce me to their families as their nurse. I enjoy the relationship building among faculty/staff, parents, and students. Now that I have been here a few years, I am trusted and people come to me with all sorts of problems, medical and non. I feel like I have become a part of this community, even though I live 45 miles away. I also feel like I make a difference, even if a small one, every day. I ain't gonna lie...the summer and holidays off and working 7:30-3:00 isn't a bad perk!

What I do not like: Teachers who think they know better than me and try to pressure me to send a student home with mild illness. Parents who do not update their phone numbers and I cannot reach them when their child is on my couch with 103 temp (or God forbid, something more serious). Discipline issues that are rampant in my school bleeding over into my work area, and administrators who do not take a hard stance on discipline issue. Not having enough resources to serve the population...I am in a very low income, mostly minority area and I am the only healthcare provider some of these kids get to see. I wish I had more free resources, especially for the undocumented students.

Most days, the good far outweighs the bad, and I love what I do!

Tait, MSN, RN · Apr 21, 2010

Specialty: Medical Surgical Nursing

How I chose it: I never really thought of anything else after school.

What I love about it: I love being there for people when they feel their worst, and making it a little bit easier. I love learning the processes that go on in people's bodies and knowing the treatments to help make them feel better and manage their symptoms. I love working with someone for three days or four hours and learning about them, about their families and sharing a little piece of that. It is amazing how quickly people will let you in when it comes to health.

What I do not like: I do not like that our floor has gone from primarily cardiac/GI to internal medicines dumping ground. I do not like coming to work everyday not knowing if you will have a surgery patient or a heroine overdose in restraints. I do not like watching patients who should be DNR's and allowed to have peace be ignored by families and doctors, while acutely sick selective DNR's and basically ignored. (Recent situations have colored my perceptions on this).

All in all I love nursing and will someday find my perfect niche, but until then I am learning everyday!

Tait

AnaCatRN · Apr 21, 2010

My specialty is pediatrics (I also do cardiology, but pediatrics is my favorite). I chose pediatrics because I love working with kids (and I was a patient in pediatric hospitals as a child d/t complications from being a preemie, and I wanted to give back)! They have taught me that life is precious and sometimes way too short. As sick as these kids get, even if they know they might die, they worry more about how their parents are handling the situation. They worry that their parents will be so sad if they die. Children are amazingly resilient, selfless, brave, and they actually whine less than their adult counterparts. They usually don't try to hurt you like some adult patients do, either. The best part is playing with them (seriously, it's part of your job when you have the time) and watching them either get better or fully accepting their conditions like it's nothing (and it's usually NOT nothing). They become quite the little experts on their meds and treatments. Amazing!

The worst part, obviously, is that they sometimes die, and that is devastating every single time. Dealing with families involved in child abuse and neglect tears my heart out, too. That happens so much more than I ever thought it did. Where I live, you can't bar the parents from the bedside until CPS and the police officially charge them, so you have to smile and cater to the abusive parents until then (the nurse doesn't inform the parents they're being investigated - don't want them to run). It's the worst feeling ever, knowing that you can't possibly be in the room 24/7 when you know the person who hurt them/put them in the hospital is alone in the room doing God knows what to them!

I wouldn't trade it for anything, though. There is something magical about making a difference in a child's life. When a really sick child smiles at you and gives you a hug, it's the best feeling!

As far as cardiology goes (I do adults and peds), I chose it because there is an intellectual gratification to it. I love interpreting cardiac rhythms and lab values, and the cardiac drip dosage calculations keep you on your toes. For adult cardiology, the downside is that many patients have co-morbidities and are very non-compliant, and not getting through to them why they need to take better care of themselves can be frustrating as all heck.

There are so many different specialties and ways to practice nursing. You can't really get bored, and you can try something new if you're not feeling challenged anymore.