What nursing field is best

[Dewater4]

Hello, I'm looking for information. I'm a new grad ADN RN. Currently working Per Diem at a rehab facility. I am trying to decide what my next step will be in my nursing career. The aspects of nursing that I love are working with the family and the patient, performing nursing skills (not just Med administration). I don't want to try to get into another position and not enjoy it, so I'm looking for info about other kinds of nursing. Home health, hospice, critical care, School nursing?????

Thanks, Rebecca

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I work on an ortho unit which is notoriously unpopular, but I LOVE it. What's best is what is best for you. I have no desire for ICU. I thought I wanted Peds, but after having a child go into resp distress, really bad, I knew I couldn't do it.

We get a lot of off service patients so I have gotten a wide variety of conditions that I have learned about.

I do know that once someone finds what they love, they usually stay there :) You'll know the right specialty when it finds you

[CardiacDork, MSN, RN]

I am coming to understand that I don't like the icu as much as I have told myself I do. Or perhaps I've become to dislike it's true nature. The pride of taking care of the sickest patients isn't worth it! Pride? Lmao. For what? For who? Every nurse has their value in the field in which they are in. Nursing is HARD. It's difficult, everywhere you go! Just choose what you want to advocate for.

For me, ICU isn't cutting it. I'm seeing the same cases of chronic illness overtaking the human body and us working our rear ends off for patients to either pass away because the care is futile or for the patients to end up back in the ICU.

I'm becoming more and more interested in health and wellness and prevention of disease for patients that WANT to change. Or perhaps even teaching nursing to nursing students, because I love talking and teaching and extrapolating on topics. I think I'm pretty articulate and my voice has a good ring to it. Haha

Do what you want because itll make yah happy and when you hit a dead end and feel unhappy then move forward. Just make sure you give things an actual try. I really honestly have given ICU a try but my interesrs are just not aligning with this side of nursing.

[Everline]

You really have to think about what is right for you, not what is "popular" or what you think you should like. What is your personality? What do you want to get out of a job? For instance, some people thrive on the action of the emergency room in a busy inner city hospital. Some people want to work in ICU with very sick patients, etc. My personality isn't suited to those types of things, nor are my interests. I love educating people and building relationships with the patients I see. I want to feel like my work is benefitting the community, as well as the individual person. So my love is public health nursing. I've worked in other specialties and really took inventory of what I liked and didn't like and what would give me the opportunity to be the kind of nurse I wanted to be. Often it takes some experience in nursing for a while before you really understand yourself and sometimes what you thought you would like in the beginning changes once you experience the realities of a particular specialty. We can also change over time, too. That's one reason nursing is such a great profession, IMO.