When I used to tell people that I worked in the NICU, their faces would light up because they thought I sat around and held babies all day.
Now that I'm back in the PICU, when I tell people what I do, I get these horrified looks and people(nurses too) will say "I could never do that!". Whats even better is when they say it's because they like kids too much!
So my question to my fellow nurses is ..... what could you never do?
I'll start.... I have a great admiration for Burn nurses! I admit that I do not know much about burn care because it has always been a fear of mine, but I have always thought you have to have a very special talent for this area!
I'm still in school, so I can't say anything for sure. But I started school saying there was NO WAY I'd do anything OB - then we had our OB rotation and I fell in love with it. I'm now working on a mother-baby floor as a CNA! So not to swear anything off just yet but this is where I am right now...
I definitely don't like the old people with all their funky smells, not even the bad smells, just that "old people smell" that can really turn my stomach and seems to stick to me for days no matter how many times I shower. I do like the challenge that many of the med-surg patients pose though.
While I like OB and working with the infants, I couldn't do peds. It's not the children, but the families - always there, always looking and judging, watching my every move. It just creeps me out.
Like other people have said thank god for the variety of life!
I'm so amazed at the differences of opinion! This is a great thread. I have always thought psych would be great because no matter what they've been through, there is always *some* type of hope for their future.
At one time I worked on a sexual offender unit part time. Teen age boys who were offenders. It was a unit at the psych hospital where I worked
At first, prior to working there, I would have said, "No way!"
But it wasn't too bad, especially because I made an effort not to read too much into their charts about what they had done. There were a lot of rules and for a psych unit, it was very well controlled.
But eventually, it affected my home life. Being looked at "in that way" by a bunch of sexual offenders 12 hours a day at work and then coming home to a husband who wanted to be close was difficult. So I left.
Now, working somewhere like that full time would be my deal breaker #1.
Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.
At one time I worked on a sexual offender unit part time. Teen age boys who were offenders. It was a unit at the psych hospital where I worked
At first, prior to working there, I would have said, "No way!"
But it wasn't too bad, especially because I made an effort not to read too much into their charts about what they had done. There were a lot of rules and for a psych unit, it was very well controlled.
But eventually, it affected my home life. Being looked at "in that way" by a bunch of sexual offenders 12 hours a day at work and then coming home to a husband who wanted to be close was difficult. So I left.
Now, working somewhere like that full time would be my deal breaker #1.
I imagine that this would be very difficult....never thought about those that do this type of nursing.....my heart goes out to them :redbeathe
A friend of mine is a surgical RN for an ocular surgeon. Yeah - eyeballs out on the table.....no thank you.
Holy sweet mother of pearl. I had a list of areas in my mind of what I would not be able to do but now I have to say that this tops the list! NO EYEBALLS THANKS
Also, I love L&D and I'm fine with very ill newborns but once they get past that newborn stage... no way. I was a total mess during my Peds rotation, I just could not handle it. I also really enjoy working with dementia and confused patients, but there's no way I could work in LTC.
I am so glad that everyone is different and have different areas of interest. I love that there are such awesome PICU nurses, as well as awesome LTC nurses and burn nurses and all of those areas that seem so difficult to me.
When I first started taking my pre-reqs I wanted to do OB/L&D so bad. Then I went in with my friend when she had her baby. I was horrified I did not know the nurses did all of that. I don't have kids yet and when you see the birthing videos they just show the baby coming out. It was what was done before all of that made me go yikes. Even when I went through OB in school I still said nope can't do it. I don't think I can do psych either.
I cant say that there is anything I couldn't handle doing. Nothing really disturbs me. There are some things I wouldn't work in correlation with my religious, political,or personal beliefs.
So not to swear anything off just yet but this is where I am right now... 
I have always thought psych would be great because no matter what they've been through, there is always *some* type of hope for their future.
OregonGal
89 Posts
I'm finding that God has a sense of humor, careful saying never...