What area do you work in? Pro's & Cons?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 1, 2009

My question is what area do you work in and what do you like most about it?

I work in a nursing home. I like the routinized nature of the work. I dislike the large patient loads of 30+ residents and the unrealistic family members.

I am in love with the Female System; pregnancy, pregnancy complications, medications, infants... so I think I will be trying to be with Labor and Delivery when I start working. How hard is it to get into that?

It depends on the city and state in which you reside. Some areas have plentiful L&D (labor & delivery) opportunities, whereas other regions have an oversupply of newly graduated nurses who have been searching for more than 1 year for any job, without luck.

I want to know roughly how much you get paid and what kind of area you live in? I know nurses make different wages depending on degree, place you live, and where you work.

I'm an LPN/LVN in Texas with nearly 4 years of experience. I earn $26 hourly, but this is only because I choose to work at an understaffed nursing home that must resort to paying competitively in order to retain staff. I shall add that my workplace always stays in deep trouble with state surveyors.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Nov 1, 2009

I am a Pre-Nursing student andI am absolutely excited to start my clinicals and nursing classes!! I have been reading my moms NCLEX-PN book and I get extremely excited to finish school and start working.
My question is what area do you work in and what do you like most about it? I am in love with the Female System; pregnancy, pregnancy complications, medications, infants... so I think I will be trying to be with Labor and Delivery when I start working. How hard is it to get into that? I want to know roughly how much you get paid and what kind of area you live in? I know nurses make different wages depending on degree, place you live, and where you work.

Be prepared that it might change a lot as you go through your program lol, when I was pre nursing I had my units I would NOT want to work on, they consisted of Burn Unit (fire is my biggest fear and I don't want to work in an area that intensifies that fear) NICU and Hospice and Oncology, I didn't want to work in high death area's where bonds could be formed.

My heart was set on L&D, from years and years of woman issues, I am good at the woman stuff and I am great at delivering babies, 4 of my own and been their in many friends births as well and 2 C sections of friends. So I knew I would be good in this area.

So now that I am in the program I got turned onto ER and was set on doing both L&D and ER. Now we are doing our Multi Cultural project on Incarceration and we went and met with a lady at the local jail and I shadow Monday there and it seemed so interesting that I thought maybe I would dabble in being a nurse at the jail.

Then I had an experience in my LTC clinical with a death in the hospice unit with a lady I got close with and we had an end of life workshop and now I have a very strong desire to do palliative care in Oncology or possibly hospice (where I said I would never work) and this is the strongest pull I have had yet. It was very ironic because at first when I walked in and saw my patient was going to die I was angry that I allowed myself to care at first and now it's what I want to do.

My friends all just laugh at me now because I am only first Semester and have already changed my mind so many times probably has to do with me being a Libra. LOL The great thing is though with nursing we can change our minds many times throughout our career and try all kinds of areas!!

Anyway, best of luck to you in your future endeavors. After waiting 3.5 years on the wait list I was on cloud 9 to finally start NS

leqwedz · Nov 1, 2009

for me it's just a roller coster.i work at the airport and i'm an LPN student almost getting done.Graduating june 09.pro's i work part time so i get to go to school full time.cons,all my class mates are already in the nursing field.cna,home care e.t.c..so when they talk of what they go thru' i feel left out coz i can't contribute.but i hope to be a better LPN once i finish.

good luck.

RhiaRN75, RN · Nov 2, 2009

If you can manage working and school, get your CNA and see if you can find a hospital job. After you become fairly comfortable working as a CNA and developing the skills, join the float pool or let it be known you're willing to float if needed. Not only will it be great experience, but you'll have a good idea of what each area of a hospital is like.

I still think most nurses should start on MedSurg. Unless you have a burning desire to work NICU, for example, where a few places don't want your mind pre-cluttered... MS is the way to go. MS nurses have a hard job but also see a little of everything. It's a good foundation for just about any position, it sharpens your clinical skills and teaches you to prioritize, among other things. MS nurses don't get enough credit IMO. No hospital can exist w/out MS and a good MS nurse can work any speciality if s/he chooses.

I started out on an Ortho/Surgical/Med overflow floor, then went to a general MS floor, then moved for hubby to a larger city and worked the Float pool- man, that was awesome. I get lazy w/ routine, and being on a different floor almost every night, and sometimes several floors in one night, was great. My biggest regret was not getting my MS certification at that time. I also worked a travel job that was 'surgical w/ a few peds now and then' that turned out to be the reverse. I would have never worked Peds otherwise, and I'm so glad it worked out that way. It was a great floor, wonderful staff, and a dream job but I didn't want to move the family yet again. I came very close to doing so, however.

I now work ER and every move I've made in my career has been training for such. I love it, it's a great hospital, great staff, and the best nurse manager I've ever encountered. Nothing is ever the same. I never know what will happen next- it suits my ADD personality to a 'T'.

I still miss MS, though. It may sound weird, but I miss helping people die w/ dignity and comfort. I miss doing little things, like prune juice for the constipated pt and whatnot, or gradually seeing a horrible decube heal - stuff that just can't/doesn't happen in the ER.

As for pay, try a salary search on google. It does vary widely w/ location and speciality and alot of nurses are probably not comfortable sharing pay details. Keep in mind cost of living as well- last I checked the highest nursing salaries were in the northeast, California, and Maryland. The cost of living is also higher in these areas- so more pay may not necessarily mean more take home money at the end of the day. Be wary of huge sign-on bonuses and relocation reimbursement. You'll probably have to pay tax for it all, there's usually alot of fine print, and you have to consider why a hospital has a huge bonus- some jobs are not worth any amount of money.

Good luck- nursing is a great job. There's such a variety of choices- almost anyone can find a niche.