What is your favorite specialty of nursing? (ER, MedSurg, ICU, Pediatrics, etc.)

[LindseyPar]

Do you like working in one area/specialty a lot more than the others you have worked in? And what specialty do you think is best for new nursing graduates?

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

The only specialty I've ever worked in- pediatrics. (Though I've done many different things within pediatrics.) I hate adults.

There is no general "best" specialty for new grads. It depends on what you want to do. I strongly disagree with the theory that everyone needs 1-2 years of med-surg.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Ditto - peds was my favorite and peds ICU the hands-down BEST.

I miss patient care.

[brownbook]

KelRN215 said:

There is no general "best" specialty for new grads. It depends on what you want to do. I strongly disagree with the theory that everyone needs 1-2 years of med-surg.

I agree with this.

My best speciality is out patient surgery. No night shift, no weekends, closed on holidays.

For the most part you're not dealing with acutely ill patients.

(I paid my dues working 17 years acute care 11 pm to 7 am.)

[JKL33]

KelRN215 said:

I hate adults.

Maybe I should just go to sleep. Instead of sitting here stifling giggles until I have tears in my eyes.

[Davey Do]

LindseyPar said:

Do you like working in one area/specialty a lot more than the others you have worked in?

And welcome to AN.com, LindseyPar!

[Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP]

ICU hands down. It's really the only specialty I want to work in. I'm never happier than having a really sick 1:1 patient, sedated, intubated, on multiple drips, CRRT, an IABP, therapeutic hypothermia...the whole nine yards. The only other specialty I'd ever be interested in is trauma, but when I say that I just mean major level 1 trauma...I'd not be too interested in general ER with the "I stubbed my toe" demographic. If I could work dedicated level 1 trauma I'd be happy. For a new grad I always say that a good stint on some general floor is most worthwhile, to get you up to speed on general nursing. That includes med/surg, orthopedics, nephrology and medicine. Yes I know there's a couple specialties in there but the premise is still the same. I'd do those before signing up for ICU, the ED or the OR etc.

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Pediatrics when I worked in an ER, but I haven't been able to land a pediatric job anywhere , which is why I am working full time in EMS. I HATE taking care of adults as a nurse!

I had an interview last week at a children's hospital, so I am crossing my fingers I go to the next step, which would be shadowing.

Annie

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

Any specialty. Ask yourself, "where do I see me in my career 5 years from now? 10 years?" And think about population, adult, pediatric, mom and baby, or geriatric; acute, subacute, etc. If you can't self determine an answer, try med/surg for 1 year to learn and build a base, then revisit the question. There are so many places you can go, don't worry about finding the answer today. Good luck on your journey

[Wiggly Litchi]

Hoosier_RN said:

Any specialty. Ask yourself, "where do I see me in my career 5 years from now? 10 years?" And think about population, adult, pediatric, mom and baby, or geriatric; acute, subacute, etc. If you can't self determine an answer, try med/surg for 1 year to learn and build a base, then revisit the question. There are so many places you can go, don't worry about finding the answer today. Good luck on your journey

I love this~

I'm in the same boat as OP and people ask me "where do you want to specialize?" and I honestly can't answer the question. I'm looking forward to clinicals, but I'm sure that I'll be able to find something I enjoy in all specialities (hopefully! haha)

[Mavrick, BSN, RN]

LindseyPar said:

Do you like working in one area/specialty a lot more than the others you have worked in? And what specialty do you think is best for new nursing graduates?

None.

New grads should not specialize. They don't know enough about nursing to know what they know or don't know.

So many nursing students don't have a clue about what real nursing is. They have made massively erroneous assumptions about nursing from watching too much TV. Picking a "specialty" too soon is an easy way to end up stuck in something you don't really like because your parents thought you should be a CRNA or because you think working with babies would be fun.

I had no idea how much I would enjoy Interventional Radiology until I floated there on a whim at a friend's suggestion.

[run_happy, BSN, RN]

I'm still a student for another 6 months, but I've known for a very long time that I wanted to work in pediatric oncology due to experiences from my childhood. Still hasn't changed. Eventually I want to go for my DNP and specialize in this area. :) I also really enjoyed NICU during rotations!

Also wanted to note that I worked on an oncology/med-surg floor for 2 years prior to starting school and my home base was at the nurse's station. So thankfully I knew what nursing truly was prior to starting school!