U of A students, did you get to pick specialty ?

You may want to be a bit more specific. I can think of 3 schools that are" U of A" without even looking on the web.

University of Arizona

Sorry-I didn't look at the forum heading . (I was reading as "new posts").

In short, no. I'm currently in the class that will be graduating in 5 weeks and they are shifting people into the high needs areas, life med/surg, mostly night shifts. In the beginning of the program, they told us that we could work anywhere in the hospital. Well, that's just not true. There are a few people in my hospital group that wanted L&D and there are no openings. There are students in the program that are working for their sponsor hospital in a certain area and those people are getting jobs where they want. I've heard of students that didn't even get to interview where they wanted! It's all quite a mess and there are a lot of unhappy soon-to-be graduates that are thinking of buying out their contracts because of this very issue.

It just depends on the time you graduate and what the needs are. Two years goes by fast, but if you are working on med/surg and want peds....it might as well be forever.

Feel free to PM me with any specific questions about the program in general.

17 more clinical days until graduation....

In short, no. I'm currently in the class that will be graduating in 5 weeks and they are shifting people into the high needs areas, life med/surg, mostly night shifts.

Well that sucks...

The sponsoring hospitals basically tell you what you want to hear. Jobs anywhere you want, even in a specialty, any shift, whatever. But they need med/surg nurses badly, every where in town. it would have been better if they just had said that everyone has to do one year of med/surg and then go to your specialty if there's an opening. Then I think people wouldn't be so upset about what's open to them.

And ou gotta start somewhere! I'm one of the ones that get to do med/surg. I want to do hospice but my sponsoring hospital flat out said NO WAY, even though I have 3 years of volunteer experience in a hospice setting (not nursing) but I'm comfortable with the idea of pallative/hospice care. It's a bigger challenge for me in the hospital setting.

You have to figure that they started this program to fill bedside nursing needs here in Tucson. Many of us in this program not only have other degrees, but many have graduate degrees and have plans to go into teaching or research. Quite a few have the means to buy their contract out. I live here in town and figure at least I don't have to "look" for a job! It's free and in two years I can either stay were I am or go do what I want. I'm mid-30s but still have a lot of working years left and with the diversity of what you can do in nursing the sky's the limit! I just wish I had gone into nursing a long time ago!

I know a previous graduate of this program. She was frustrated that she got placed on med/surg nights when she saw a new grad ADN-RN student who wasn't under any contract go to a desirable specialty area.

I guess she learned that an RN is an RN and that being under a contract can have its disadvantages. Her master's degree in an unrelated field meant nothing in this process.

I guess that's the price you pay when you sign on the dotted line.

Yes, and there always is a price to pay for contracts isn't there....

Yes, and there always is a price to pay for contracts isn't there....

I'd sign a contract after graduating, to get into the specialty I want. I'd avoid the contracts to get into a nursing program, though. You've given up your bargaining chip in that instance and have so little control over where you end up.

Although, I know for some, it is the right choice to get into nursing school.

Ugh, I signed a contract and regretted it every day until it was up. Even though I'm at the same place, there is something so suffocating about being chained to the same place no matter what happens or how often management changes.

And I'm lucky that I got right into NS, but MedSurg nights is such a bad place to be. Certainly not the specialty I would want, but also not good for the marriage (for me, that is).

You know honostly, I wanted to get right into ICU or ER right out of school. I am so glad I didn't! I had my reserved thoughts about Med-Surg floors as all of you do. They all sucked! from when I did my clinicals on them. But now, I really think that I made a wise choice to accept the job to work med-surg for my first year of nursing. There are different types of med-surg as well. The unit I'm on is more of an intermediate care style of med-surg. But it's great! I deal with trauma patients and transplants and sometimes your typical gen surg patient. I am learning a lot by being in this floor which I believe will better prepare me for when I go off and pick a specialty. But, I'm not on a contract like all of you may be on. They asked me to do at least a year verbally and of coorifice I will honor that. But anyways, I believe that all new grads should start off on a med-surg unit for at least a year. I used to not believe that and I had this misconception that all med-surg is about is your nursing home type patients, and that's not the case where I'm at because for the most part I see all age from teenagers to the older folks, with the majority of people being in their 30's or 40's. This is where the real learning begins and the text books go out the window. Don't be so discouraged if you don't get what you want. I didn't get what I wanted either but it all worked out. University Medical Center is a great hospital and so far my favorite that I have worked in the past 5 1/2 years. It's the only reason why I moved to Tucson.

-David H.