Torn between specialties

IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Jul 9, 2013

I'm currently in school for nursing BSN. I'm torn between OBGYN ICU, pediatric, or trauma! Can anyone give me a little knowledge on the few I have narrowed down. I'm not to big on children but I adore watching babies being born, I love excitement, fast paced and busy work environments. I guess you can say I'm a sucker for hard work :)[/quote']
I'd recommend just taking whatever position you can get out of school and seeing how that goes.
L&D isn't about seeing babies being born...there's very little of that compared to everything else.
Pediatric...if you don't like kids don't do peds. You need to love kids to do peds.
Plus honestly...you likely won't be hired into any of these specialties as a new grad RN so what you want...work a while and see what happens.

FRNHEBRARD · Jul 9, 2013

Thank you!

i<3u · Jul 9, 2013

When the time comes, apply for any and every unit/specialty that you may be interested in. I didn't apply for any specialties that I was not interested in because I knew when it came down to it, I'd end up hating it. For example, I don't know how to communicate with children and I'd rather not work with them, so I didn't apply for a peds position.

Don't listen to everyone that says you MUST start in med surg! It's not true. If that's where you want to go, cool...do that. I was hired in trauma and was given every reason why I wouldn't be hired.

Until then, good luck :-)

calivianya, BSN, RN · Jul 10, 2013

Very few of my classmates went into med/surg. I think out of 90 students maybe 20 or less have med/surg positions. When we went to a NCLEX review class the instructor asked how many people were going into ICU and it was about half of the people in the room. My class was heavy on the people who like critical care, but we also had many people go to labor and delivery and many people go to emergency. I'm just saying this to point out that the new grads have to do med/surg idea is absolutely not true and I have no idea why people are still pushing that myth. Med/surg has nothing to do with other nursing specialties so I don't get why people think having med/surg experience will help you in specialty areas. It will help time management and assessment skills, but nothing else about med/surg is directly related to other specialties. What would really help you in labor and delivery, IMO, is labor and delivery experience.

If you haven't had any clinicals in the areas you're interested in, you could try asking the hospital if you could shadow in each of these units for a day or two. That could help you narrow down your interests significantly.

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 10, 2013

Other than peds, you want all the ones I RAN away from LOL. I really thought I wanted to do peds until I had a child in my capstone that was in severe resp distress. We were waiting for the Life flight to come get this child with MD pacing at the foot of the bed trying to decide whether to intubate or not. WAY too stressful for me. I got emotional watching this child and trying to soothe the parent. I knew I couldn't do it everyday. Ended up in ortho. Never thought I would like it, but I LOVE it. See how things play out. Agree that Med/surg is not necessary and not for everyone.

tippeny · Jul 11, 2013

Can I assume that you are about to graduate and are looking at what specialty to try and do your senior practicum in? Or are you just looking for a little direction for after you graduate? I am going to graduate in December and am torn between a number of specialty areas as well for my practicum. I have done clinicals in OB & Peds: I thought I would love OB but didn't see any babies born (slow days!) and the patient population was all high-risk. I am very passionate about children but found out that my 'mommy instinct' is super high- I have 2 kids of my own- and I had a hard time walking away from my patients at the end of the day and remember crying in the car on the way home more than once.

So consider the emotional aspect of the areas you are thinking of as well as the patient populations. If there is a specific hospital you would love to work at, look at the kind of patients they attract- is it an inner city hospital, teaching hospital, rural, or for profit private hospital? They will all have different types of clients. I am ultimately just hoping for a job after I graduate and am focusing on the idea that everyone keeps repeating- The great thing about nursing is that if you don't like what you are doing, then try something else!

Good luck to you!

DalekRN · Jul 11, 2013

Don't feel pressured into choosing a specialty. That's the beauty of our profession- you can switch. You will never be truly stuck in a a specialty.

an2on, BSN, RN · Jul 13, 2013

You can do pediatric ER

LIWYMOOI · Feb 12, 2014

Well I think I can somewhat relate. I enjoy two very different specialties. I work as an OR and an ICU nurse. I take a break from the busy SICU and enjoy the OR in a busy teaching hospital. I had certification in the OR, but am currently working on my certification for the ICU.

Just.Blessed.RN, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2015

I'm graduating in December and I'm torn too! Mental health, OB, OR, and dialysis! I also want to apply by the end of the month for an externship, which will probably be on a Med Surg floor.

My question is how to choose. I keep having nightmares that I get an offer from all 4 areas with on 24 hours to respond and I pick 1 that I immediately hate!!! Ugh, frustrated í ½í¸‘

NPOaftermidnight, MSN, RN, NP · Mar 13, 2015

...I keep having nightmares that I get an offer from all 4 areas with on 24 hours to respond and I pick 1 that I immediately hate!!! Ugh, frustrated ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½

Your nightmare should be that you don't get offers from any area. The new grad market can be tough. In my hospital at least, a new grad would never get hired into OR or dialysis (but are often hired into the ICUs) but I'm sure that's not the same everywhere.

One of the great things about nursing is how many different things you can do. If you don't like whatever area you start out in, just stick with it for a year and then find yourself a different job. Even just that one year of experience can open a lot of doors for you.