What's your dream specialty?

LibraNurse27, BSN, RN · Apr 17, 2020

7 years as a nurse and I'm still looking for my dream specialty ?But just wanted to say I think it's great to hear a male say they enjoy working with new moms and babies. I'm not a mom but it looks like a lot to go through: giving birth, breastfeeding, sleep deprivation, etc. It's wonderful that there are men out there who realize that it can be a beautiful but difficult experience and who have compassion for women. Compassion for the elderly is also important ?Good luck in school and with finding your specialty

K+MgSO4, BSN · Apr 17, 2020

While some of it is the specialty I think a massive part is the team. I manage a less glamorous specialty but have a waiting list of staff who want to work with the team.

pixierose, BSN, RN · Apr 17, 2020

10 hours ago, K+MgSO4 said:
While some of it is the specialty I think a massive part is the team. I manage a less glamorous specialty but have a waiting list of staff who want to work with the team.

^^^ This. When I worked in Geri psych and neuro-ICU (two specialties many wouldn’t consider a dream), I loved my teams. The nurses, physicians, CNAs, RTs, OTs, PTs ... both jobs had dynamic teams. It was actually a pleasure to go to work, for the most part. Now I’m in the ED, a coveted position for many ... and everyone is so wiped and stressed from COVID that it’s not that enjoyable.

Hint: go where there is no turnover.

Davey Do · Apr 17, 2020

1 hour ago, pixierose said:
everyone is so wiped and stressed from COVID that it’s not that enjoyable.

I believe Belinda, my medical nurse wife, would beg to differ with you on that point, pixierose. She typically works IMU, but her unit has been changed to a Covid unit.

Belinda typically comes home and says, "Busy night!" For the past couple of weeks she's come home and said, "Long night!"

Patients who are admitted for medical reasons and test positive are sent to her unit. Aside from all the precautions and the PPE needing to be donned, Belinda says it's quite boring.

Belinda is a very efficient nurse and does well at time management. She has a system worked out to make the process work. For example, if the patient has an 0200 accucheck and a 0400 med, she goes in once at about 0300 to do both. It seems to work well.

But to answer JabuJabule's enquiry on my dream speciality, I've worked a few different areas which I truly enjoyed. I've done psych for about 25 out of my 36 years in nursing and truly feel comfortable there. However, I loved being an OR scrub nurse, a CD nurse, and I'm soon to start a part time position at a LTC facility and am looking forward to working with the geriatric population. I've got about a year's experience in LTC, but it's like I said in my interview: "Staff often referred to geriatric psych as the 'nursing home unit'!"

It's interesting that at the age of 22 I worked with "troubled teenage boys", a population close to my age, as a Houseparent/EMT and now, at the age of 63 as an RN, I will be again working with a population close to my age!

Like the old folk song went, "We must make our run successful from the cradle to the grave"!

pixierose, BSN, RN · Apr 17, 2020

55 minutes ago, Davey Do said:
I believe Belinda, my medical nurse wife, would beg to differ with you on that point, pixierose. She typically works IMU, but her unit has been changed to a Covid unit.
Belinda typically comes home and says, "Busy night!" For the past couple of weeks she's come home and said, "Long night!"
Patients who are admitted for medical reasons and test positive are sent to her unit. Aside from all the precautions and the PPE needing to be donned, Belinda says it's quite boring.
Belinda is a very efficient nurse and does well at time management. She has a system worked out to make the process work. For example, if the patient has an 0200 accucheck and a 0400 med, she goes in once at about 0300 to do both. It seems to work well.
But to answer JabuJabule's enquiry on my dream speciality, I've worked a few different areas which I truly enjoyed. I've done psych for about 25 out of my 36 years in nursing and truly feel comfortable there. However, I loved being an OR scrub nurse, a CD nurse, and I'm soon to start a part time position at a LTC facility and am looking forward to working with the geriatric population. I've got about a year's experience in LTC, but it's like I said in my interview: "Staff often referred to geriatric psych as the 'nursing home unit'!"
It's interesting that at the age of 22 I worked with "troubled teenage boys", a population close to my age, as a Houseparent/EMT and now, at the age of 63 as an RN, I will be again working with a population close to my age!
Like the old folk song went, "We must make our run successful from the cradle to the grave"!

It’s good to hear that she finds it boring.

I’m personally finding a lot of people that I’m sending up dying. Some of these people, I know it’ll happen. Others? I’m completely surprised. It’s sad and devastating and I drive home every day with the music off but I’m sure I sound like a damn broken record by now.

It’s a morale killer, for sure. Luckily, I work with a decent team.

Maybe I’m tired. Maybe I’m overwhelmed. I’m certainly overreacting. Your tone just sounds so off, though. Obviously not every COVID experience is like mine. But can you give me a break here, Davey? We’re pretty dang efficient here too but damn - we still don’t have enough PPE, we lost a coworker two days ago (mid 40’s), and when you’re in surge you do the best you can with time management.

I think it’s best that I log off AN for a good while. My emotions are getting the best of me. OP - sorry for high jacking your thread.

Davey Do · Apr 17, 2020

My heart goes out to you, pixierose, and in no way did I mean to make this situation trite.

I'm so sorry and you have a right to be emotional. Please accept my humble apology as I send you my condolences and admiration for the job that you do.

sevensonnets · Apr 17, 2020

Much love to you, pixierose. You're in my prayers.

**CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN** · Apr 18, 2020

I think my original "dream" position was hospice care. I became a nurse after being inspired by the home health/hospice that helped us allow my grandmother to die at home surrounded by family.

Right now, though, I think I'm drained from watching patients die from air hunger and no visitors. =( I think the loneliness is terrible.

Generally, I'm med-surg, did many years of geriatric med-surg. I do love my "little old ladies and little old mens". And I'm a hand holder when limiting contact time isn't the goal. ?

guest769224 · Apr 18, 2020

8 hours ago, pixierose said:
Hint: go where there is no turnover.

And from what I’ve seen.... no or low turnover usually exists in the following specialties: Cath Lab, IR, OR, PACU, NICU (neonatal), and sometimes L&D. Those specialties seem to hang onto their staff much longer, OP.

LibraNurse27, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2020

I agree with ICUman, the procedural have less turnover than Med/Surg/Stepdown/ICU. Right now nurses from procedure areas are floating to my step-down floor to help with the surge, and many of them tell me it's their worst nightmare... returning to floor nursing ?They're joking and are helpful with all the covid stuff but they are honest with us about their opinion that it's easy to burn out on the floor.

I believe it's because of the fast pace, multi-tasking, interruptions, seeing death and suffering, etc. I personally don't mind being busy and caring for sick patients, what burns me is rude/demanding/disrespectful/demeaning patients and being verbally and physically assaulted. I am compassionate to those with a true psychotic disorder that are unable to control their behavior but not people who just want someone to be their punching bag.

I also recognize substance abuse as a disease but I am tired of being hit/kicked/grabbed by grown men in alcohol and meth withdrawal, 2 of the main diagnoses on my floor. If I could erase the aggressive/mean pts from nursing and keep the stress, life and death, incontinence... everything else that is not "fun" I would still love being a nurse. The one thing I no longer want to deal with is being treated poorly. But during the covid surge it will be pretty much impossible to escape the floor ?

Dln14 · Apr 18, 2020

flight nurse or an infectious disease NP ?