which specialty does this describe?

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Dec 13, 2010

It sounds a lot like bone marrow transplant. Our patients are there for several months frequently, and often have re-admissions, so you really get to know them. They go home needing to know how to avoid infections, and usually with central lines. They go home with many meds, which frequently change, and with many restrictions initially, so you do a ton of teaching. Patients can become very unstable quickly, and you give tons of meds, so it's often busy and could easily be described as "organized chaos" at times.

nhelkhound · Dec 13, 2010

This can be hospice, depending on how long your patient lives.

BrnEyedGirl, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN · Dec 13, 2010

Dialysis, ob/gyn, probably any office work.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 13, 2010

This could describe acute inpatient rehabilitation. The patient population consists of a mixed bag of very debilitated people who have had major CVAs, MIs, intracranial hemorrhage, total knee replacements, total hip replacements, back surgeries, failure to thrive, traumatic injuries s/p motor vehicle accidents, TBI, spinal cord injuries, fresh colostomies, limb amputations, and so forth.

The patients tend to stay for several weeks up to one month, so you really get to know them and see their progress (or lack of it). Since many of their afflictions are dramatic and life-altering, you will do plenty of patient teaching. The environment can turn chaotic at any time because you're being pulled in multiple directions at one time, a code can occur at any minute, and you tend to have more patients to manage (7 to 12 at a freestanding rehab hospital) with less resources to put out the fires.

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Dec 13, 2010

Sounded pretty good until "get to know your patients," lol.

MissIt · Dec 13, 2010

I second oncology, especially an outpatient chemo clinic.

HollyHobby · Dec 13, 2010

ICU.

I get to do a lot of patient/family teaching. When my patient is too gorked to be taught, there is family who benefit greatly from teaching. I really enjoy my interactions with them. I tend to see my patients as integral with their family/support group. I have to support all of them, not just the actual patient.

I don't think ER nurses get to know their patients well, except the frequent flyers, and even then their contact is limited. Their job is to get them just stable enough to transfer. The ER nurses I know say they prefer this: they don't want to be stuck with the same patients for long. They don't want to have lengthy conversations with the family about what's going on and why and what it all means. They have lives to save.

This doesn't mean ER nurses are insensitive or dismissive: their job is to patch them up and ship them out so they can take care of the next poor soul who comes through the door.

In critical care, you keep the patients longer. You have time to build strong bonds and since you have so few patients at a time, you spend a lot of time with them.

"Organized chaos" also describes critical care. You max out your critical thinking skills. You have to think fast. Anything can happen at any time, and it often does. Exciting things happen every single day. Pretty much every decision you make can mean life or death, but you're not in it all alone because you have a backup team of other nurses to help you. When the worst does happen, there is no better feeling than handling an emergency competently and smoothly.

You get the drama PLUS the interpersonal connections with your patients/families that you don't get in the ER. I have total respect for ER nurses, but they are a slightly different breed: if getting to know your patients is important to you, I don't think the ER would fulfill you.

Fribblet · Dec 13, 2010

You get to know your patients in the ER. You'll know their name, their BS complaint of choice and which drug cocktail they prefer. You'll also know where their one good vein is and how to hit it.

AltaEnfermera · Dec 13, 2010

Sounds like correctional nursing, specifically a setting in which you work in the outpatient clinic. You see chronic care patients for the duration of their stay, and have opportunities to teach "healthy" inmates who come in for minor complaints; the population is large, and you need good organizational skills to manage the sheer volume of patient flow. Plus, you are always "on call" for any emergency type situations that may go down while you're in the clinic, such as uses of force, etc...those are always good for some chaos (which may or may not be necessarily "organized", lol! )

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Dec 13, 2010

I love this chart for making nursing career decisions:

http://torontoemerg.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/nurse-career-flow-chart1.jpg

EDIT: Oh noes, my image is too big! I'll take out the img stuff and you can go to the link directly.

Mandychelle79, ASN, RN · Dec 13, 2010

I would say Psych.