When Do You Choose Your Nursing Specialty

[Enlightenedchild]

Hello,

I am a pre-nursing student at the moment. I'm currently taking medical terminology (any advice?) and Chemistry (any advice?).

Anyways...I was just thinking about nursing specialities. I know I want to go into psychiatrics (well, 80 percent sure).

At what point in nursing school do I start concentrating on my specialty. Do all nurses get taught the same thing, then after they go into their specialty when they apply for the job? So, if that is true, all they learn about their specialty would be when their hired?

I don't know. I'm clueless.

Please help.

[tokyoROSE, BSN, RN]

Nurses do not specialize in school. They do it on the job. Nursing school will expose you to all kinds of specialties-- from mental health, to ob, to ICU, to med/surg. You learn a bit of everything. Hopefully after you graduate, you'll get a sense of what you would like to do and go on from there.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

I will say that keep an open mind. Once you are in your clinicals and going to different areas you will find that your mind might change a lot. I went in with tunnel vision of exactly what I wanted to do. It has changed a lot and I still have more clinicals to do and my specialized area I request for 4th semester.

School will give you a mix of many areas and you will know what areas you like and don't like. If you are still undecided when you graduate think about becoming a float nurse so you can get a better feel as an actual nurse in the other areas also.