What field of nursing do you want to go in and why?

Nursing Students General Students

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I think I want to go into ER. This is because there is lots of teamwork (well, I guess that's based on the workers), it's also standard protocols rather than scheduled orders on the floor, and the MD is always present when needed...though it's a challenge, I'm up for it. What about you guys?

Psych. I like the laid back environment I experienced at clinical (I know not all places are that calm, but it's still been my favorite nursing experience so far) and I've always been interested in psychology, so being a psych nurse seems to be the best choice for me. I would love to one day work in an eating disorder or addiction recovery clinic. As of yet, it's the only rotation and course that didn't make me want to quit school everyday. I'm in med-surg now and I'm back in that black hole of despair.

I hear ya. My psych rotation was the only rotation that was "fun".

Psych make sense to me and it's my niche.

Not too many students ever even consider psych, so I had to kudos your post :)

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I want to work in the ER, because from what I've seen at my hospital, the ER is better staffed. Plus I like the detective work aspect of ER nursing, and the fact that I can do a lot of things without having to wait for a phone call from the doctor, who may be far away. In the ER, they're right there. My experience as a scribe has exposed me to a lot in the ER, and that's probably what made me decide the ER would be a good fit. I hope that getting certifications and a practicum sets me apart. But I know that it's competitive to get into the ER, and the medical floor I also work on might just be the place I start. It's not a bad floor, but I don't look forward to having 6+ patients with only one aide in my wing. And God forbid we get an M1, because the poor aide will have to be pulled.

Ultimately, it's not in my hands.

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

I have to say after being fully involved with 40 births in my Labor and Delivery student internship, that is my main passion hands down. I feel like I truly fit there and it makes me so happy. I really had an excellent experience and I have always loved OB for many years. However, I am currently doing another internship in the NICU right now during my last semester and enjoy that as well. So if I had 3 choices in order I would say #1 L&D, #2 NICU, #3 PICU/Peds! I love working with mothers/babies/children. That's just my niche and I'm glad I found it before graduating in May! However, I am open minded and if I can't land a specialty position right away, I won't mind working med/surg or in another area to gain experience and get my foot in the door first.

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

Woops posted the same message twice.

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Specializes in Psych.

"

** that's great you want to do icu. i went directly into icu as a new grad and it was a great thing for me. i wish you good luck.

however i wanted to point out something. i have worked critical care for the last 16 or so years in a variety of hospitals in 4 states. in most icus there are very sedom physicians there. the icu where you were would be an exception. in many very large high intensity icus there may almost never be a doctor in the unit. where i work now the docs round in the morning from about 0600 to about 10:00am and then they leave, usually not to come back until 0600 the next day. this is in a large teaching hospital that is a trauma center with an active heart program."

i'd have to agree. i work in the sicu now, & i am constantly running around "where's the triage doctor? where's the resident?? who paged neurosurgery, they're on the phone!" etc. ours is a large teaching hospital as well.... icu is great, though, but not because of the doctors ;)

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Specializes in Psych.

here's what i don't understand: i've noticed that in the icu (at least where i work), the vast majority of nurses are new grads....is that necessarily a "good idea"? i mean, i guess if i was going to "staff" an icu, i'd probably want more experienced nurses, not ones fresh outta college. seems to me like this is kinda silly, but maybe i'm missing something. it can just get very hectic & crazy in there....

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
here's what i don't understand: i've noticed that in the icu (at least where i work), the vast majority of nurses are new grads....is that necessarily a "good idea"? i mean, i guess if i was going to "staff" an icu, i'd probably want more experienced nurses, not ones fresh outta college. seems to me like this is kinda silly, but maybe i'm missing something. it can just get very hectic & crazy in there....

*** i have never worked in a icu where the majority of nurszes were new grads. however a mix of experience, new grads included is normal. turn over in icus is pretty high. there are several reason for this. the main reason, in my opinion, is that nurses with high qualiety icu experience have many, many oppertunities. icu skills, usually considered to be good critical thinking, advanced assessment skills and the abiliety to think and react calmly with competence in emergency situations are highly valued skills. this often means that skilled icu nurses have many choices for other jobs. plus lots of icu nurses head off the crna school.

some of the more forward thinking hospitals are leaning to hiring new grads and providing them with a training program to get them up to speed. nurse residency programs of 6-12 months are becoming more common (based on my observation). it is well demonstrated that a new grad, when properly trained and supported, can become a highly competent icu nurse in a fairly short time. one hospital where i work pretty much only hires new grads into the icus. an experienced icu nurse may be considered but usually not nurses with med-surg eperience.

to slightly change the subject. i am a little dismayed that so many have their sights set on l&d, peds & other fields where the patients are very young. first there just are not very many jobs in those areas. the vast majority of people who need nursing care are older adults. the majoriety of oppertunities for nursing jobs and advancements in nursing are in adult areas. the vast majority of new grads are going to end up in hospital med-surg units (where the majority of patients will be older adults) or in nursing homes.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

Geriatrics! I love working with the elderly. Working with residents who have Alzheimer's and dementia is my passion. I also have a love for anything psych.

My FAVORITE rotation was when I went to a Senior Adult Mental Health unit in the hospital.

I thought when I first started nursing school that maybe I'd change my mind once I had clinicals in other areas... but I still only want to work in geriatrics. I know I'm definitely in the minority, but I just love it.

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Specializes in ER, Med-surg.
Geriatrics! I love working with the elderly. Working with residents who have Alzheimer's and dementia is my passion. I also have a love for anything psych.

My FAVORITE rotation was when I went to a Senior Adult Mental Health unit in the hospital.

I thought when I first started nursing school that maybe I'd change my mind once I had clinicals in other areas... but I still only want to work in geriatrics. I know I'm definitely in the minority, but I just love it.

I've never heard anybody say that they actually wanted to go into geriatrics! That's truly amazing to me. Why just last night, I was taking care of a friend's 80 year old cousin and afterwards, I asserted to my own family that I would never work in geriatrics if I could help it. God bless you for actually desiring a field that nobody wants. :bowingpur
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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

Wow thats funny a lot of people in my class are interested in geriatrics.

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When I started nursing school I was positive I wanted to go into the ER. I had a background as an ER tech, so it seemed like the natural progression. So many people were asking me if I had ever thought of surgery and I brushed it off because I had such a 1-track mind.

When I did my OR observation, it was like stepping into the motherland. I fell in love immediately and have had it on my sights ever since.

My advice - don't be so set in your ways because you never know when you'll be wanting a certain area you never dreamed of before ;)

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

I agree I went in thinking I might like ER or ped's and I love OB, I am most definately in love...

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