What's my nursing specialty?

mystory, BSN, RN · May 9, 2011

Consider psych. I made the switch from Med/Surg and haven't looked back. I find psych to be less stressful because it is less task-oriented. I teach everyday..I even teach some classes on goal setting, self esteem, and meditation. There is time to talk to patients, as that is predominantly what we do. It is exciting and different everyday, as pts. can suddenly present with acute psychosis, mania, catatonia, etc. However, you said you want to be able to control what's going on, and that is certainly not the case with psych. I cannot think of a specialty to accomodate that..maybe OR?

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · May 9, 2011

Home health. You get to see a variety of patients with a variety of conditions each day. There is a ton of teaching! While you have to be organized and productive because of your appointment times, you have one patient at a time and you get to focus your full attention on them. You will see their improvements and know that it was in part because of you. You also get to be independent and advocate for your patients.

RN1263 · May 9, 2011

Home health. You get to see a variety of patients with a variety of conditions each day. There is a ton of teaching! While you have to be organized and productive because of your appointment times, you have one patient at a time and you get to focus your full attention on them. You will see their improvements and know that it was in part because of you. You also get to be independent and advocate for your patients.

I was also going to say home health....

mustlovepoodles, RN · May 9, 2011

Hi I'm interested in hearing people's suggestions on which nursing specialty may be a good fit for me based on who I am. Here it goes.
I don't want to work in a VERY stressful environment. I don't mind working in a fast paced setting, but i don't want to feel overwhelmed in what I'm doing. I get bored with things easily so I want to work in a setting where the same thing doesnt' happen everyday. I want it to be fun and exciting. I want to be able to have enough time to focus on my patients and talk to them. I don't like it when a whole bunch of things is happening all at the same time, ALL the time. I love teaching so I want to be able to do alot of that in my job. I want to feel like I'm making a difference in my patient's lives and that I actually see that when I come into work. I want to work mainly with adults of all ages.
Can you help me? What do you think my specialty could be?

Well, until that last sentence I was going to vote School Nurse. I'm a school nurse in a little elementary school. My students come overwhelmingly from very impoverished familiese and they have all the acoutrements of poverty--substance abuse, gang warfare, chronic hunger, child abuse. They have few resources and medical or dental care is far, far down the list of things to spend money on with these families. Often i am their only health care provider. My day is pretty predictable--I know i'm going to see certain kids for meds, inhalers, insulin, etc. But I have to be ready for anything, because anything that can happen at home can happen at school. I have cared for students and adults with seizures,asthma attacks, anaphylaxis, broken bones, out of control infections, and twice for serious arrhythmias. At least once a monthh I have to make a CPS report.

So to sum it up i would say that i work in a fast paced environment...sometimes

My workplace is not stressful...mostly

It's fun & exciting...when it's fun & exciting, that is

I get to do a lot of teaching and spending time with my little charges...every day

And the best of all? I KNOW that i'm making a difference in people's lives. There's nothing like shopping in Walmart and hearing a little voice say, "Mami! Papi! mi enfermera!" :nurse:

drmorton2b · May 9, 2011

Mine is psych/detox but in the future WHEN I become an RN I want to possibly do homecare.

RedWeasel, RN · May 9, 2011

Physical Rehabilitation. Love it! You got your: adults, can talk to them and educate, see something new everyday, work with SCIs TBIs, Amps, CVAs. Do IVs, Trach care, Gtube stuff, Bowel programs, Intermittent caths-sometimes twice a shift, wound care, ostomy care, ear irrigation, rectal tubes, JP drains, blood infusions, ALL KINDS OF STUFF. Critical thinking. Other nurses think our patients are easy but they are pretty acute still. They go downhill too and you have to critically think. Sure you may have 6 or 7 patients but you REALLY learn to prioritize and critically think. Really check it out. And we are a specialty. i just got my CRRN.

Caffeine_IV · May 9, 2011

Home health

Hospice

Rehab

Case management

Nurzelady · May 9, 2011

Dont you need special credentials to be a School nurse? And which ages do you work with?

Well, until that last sentence I was going to vote School Nurse. I'm a school nurse in a little elementary school. My students come overwhelmingly from very impoverished familiese and they have all the acoutrements of poverty--substance abuse, gang warfare, chronic hunger, child abuse. They have few resources and medical or dental care is far, far down the list of things to spend money on with these families. Often i am their only health care provider. My day is pretty predictable--I know i'm going to see certain kids for meds, inhalers, insulin, etc. But I have to be ready for anything, because anything that can happen at home can happen at school. I have cared for students and adults with seizures,asthma attacks, anaphylaxis, broken bones, out of control infections, and twice for serious arrhythmias. At least once a monthh I have to make a CPS report.
So to sum it up i would say that i work in a fast paced environment...sometimes
My workplace is not stressful...mostly
It's fun & exciting...when it's fun & exciting, that is
I get to do a lot of teaching and spending time with my little charges...every day
And the best of all? I KNOW that i'm making a difference in people's lives. There's nothing like shopping in Walmart and hearing a little voice say, "Mami! Papi! mi enfermera!"

Nurzelady · May 9, 2011

Thanks everyone for your responses! I have an interview tomorrow to work on a psych floor! i'm so nervous! I'm gonna start reading everything there is to know about psych. Does anyone know what kind of questions they'll probably ask?

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · May 9, 2011

"Dont you need special credentials to be a School nurse?"

BSN, but that's a discussion for another thread :).

I was also going to add cardiopulmonary rehab, which will also need psych skills and you won't be working nights, holidays, or weekends :) Fun stuff, though.

Also requires a BSN.

chancie · May 9, 2011

I was going to say psych or rehab as well. Lots of education going on there I hear.