Stepping stone job

[uiwhi]

hi all,

I am an RN in a tele floor, been a nurse allllmost a year :)

I was wondering, how many years in did you feel like you "found" your speciality in nursing?

thanks!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I am 10 and a half years into my nursing career and still have not discovered a specialty that piques my interest enough to want to stick around for the long term.

[Asystole RN]

The beauty of nursing if you can work in about 1,001 specialties in 101 settings and still practice as a nurse. Took about 2 years for me to find my love.

[RNperdiem, RN]

So far it has been in my second and current job. It suits my needs right now.

Needs change, so what we value in a job changes too.

Right now, my job is secondary to my family responsibility. A per diem, well paying nursing job gives me the flexibility I need. In a few years, maybe I might want a change.

[Marisette, BSN, RN]

I don't know if nurses really find their niche or specialty and live happily ever after. I think numerous factors contribute to the love of the work place. and consequently, the specialty. The people one works with, the management, the working conditions, a certain degree of autonomy, feeling challenged and appreciated, but not overwhelmed, benefits and compensation and so on. There are probably more factors that contribute to the appreciation or love of a particular nursing specialty. A nurse's personality and personnel needs for growth and acceptance certainly play a role in their love of a specialty.

I used to work newborn/ intermediate nursery when I started nursing. I can honestly say I disliked the specialty, but I look back on it today as one of the best experience in my nursing career. I worked the night shift and loved the comradey among my coworkers, the feeling that I was supported and contributing to an overall goal. I work a fairly easy job now, as far as nursing goes, and can say that it's not a pleasant nursing experience because so much is lacking from my work environment. Finding a specialty that you love may not be so much about the specialty, but more about the overall experience in the work place. I don't believe I have found a specialty that meets my needs after 29 years in nursing. I had some very good jobs that I hoped would last forever, but things changed, changes in ownership of the health care companies I worked for, new management, coworkers leaving and so on.