When did you know what specialty you wanted?

I was absolutely, positively fixated with ER. That is all I was going to do. Nothing else. Until I got into a surgery rotation during clinicals. Ortho. I LOVED IT from the moment I saw it. Never would have imagined that. Then, I sat in on a surgery to remove a melanoma...ended up chatting with the doc and started working in dermatology. LOVE it. I was surprised to love being in a docs office as compared to being in the hospital! Who would have known? :)

You never really know where you are going to end up...but definately suck up all the experience along the way!

You will be in clinical one day and absolutely entranced with your day, and that's how you will know. It may take you a while to get there, however...I forgot to add, I wanted something totally different than what I would up loving, and am currently doing something else, waiting for my chance.

i wanted to do or when i was a brand spanking new student. found out during clinicals that i absolutely loved the icu.

forgot to add that i also found out during clinicals that i really didn't care for the or. i didn't think about how i would have to stand for hours, or the fact that the face mask makes me cough. loved the equipment and skills needed for the icu.

you know.. i dont know if you always KNOW what you are meant to do right away or for a while.. i started out as an USAR medic, and LOVED it, i vol emergency civi when i got back from military- and LOVED it, jaws of life, getting ppl out of car, the adrenaline of the pager going off at all hours.. but then... then comes the clinic, i was an MA for 6 yrs while doing pre-req's and stuff like that for nrsg school, LOVED that!! lol..not dont yet...i loved that i had my pts that knew me, knew i knew them and the md's np's and stuff and the hours?? rock on right? then nrsg school....all the exposure.. i loved l & d, still want to do that...badly,,, wonder if thats my calling yet.... but i work on a ortho; urology; gyn unit- i love my female health stuff, and i love the dynamics of the ortho- getting ppl better.. but man... i dont know if thats what i want to do my entire life. i dont know!!there is a LOT that i love about each, and i dont know what i want to do, if i could do one each day of the week or couple days... i think that would make my day! lmao!!

-H-RN

not that that helped you a DARN bit huh??

I thought I wanted to do L&D for the longest time; even after my clinical rotation in L&D I was still interested. Then I hit the doors of the ICU and knew that's where I wanted to be, at least for a long while. Part of the reason I changed my mind was just the fact that I like working with the older population, and not so much the younger women and babies.

Then, knowing in my heart that i wanted to do ICU, I still wasn't comfortable going right into it as a new grad, so I did a year on the tele floor first. I was honest with my manager about my goals and she was very supportive when I felt ready to move on; even call the ICU manager for me!!

Anyway, I think you will find out what you're interested in in clinicals, at least enough to know what to go for as a new grad. The great thing about nursing is that you can always move around. Who knows, I may go to L&D in 10 years!

you just know at a certain point. its wierd

While I was in school, a wise old NP told me specialty doesn't mean nearly as much as finding your comfort zone on the chaos-order continuum. She'd started in the ER, which was much too chaotic for her, and found herself in OB with her day sliced up into precise little 15-minute chunks, which was a taste too orderly for her. She was entirely right. I ended up on tele by accident, and it's perfect. Lots of admissions and snarled new orders to untangle, average length of stay 3 days, interesting pts who are capable of speech (educable and capable of being motivated). For me, it slams all night without overwhelming. And I think I'd be just as happy in any other specialty that put me in the same "sweet spot."

I wanted to do L&D..big time...but had to do 1 year out of NS to get experience so I went into acute dialysis...then to L&D 3 1/2 years...now been in HD for a long time...but my pts don't yell at me blaming me cause they're about to blow a basketball out of their..hummmmmm. I have a love/hate job...but I can get up in the AM & think I make a difference... & I see these pts. every other day...so...let's not go there......LOL

I want to go into NICU. =3 That's the reason I'm going into nursing. I don't as much like the adults that can whine and complain, but I do love babies and always have. I'm currently doing my pre-reqs, so I've not done any clinicals or anything, but I'm pretty sure that's what I want to do.

I thought I'd be a nurse midwife -- grew up as free labor for my uncle's farm, loved it when the calves were born, watching a foal take it's first steps, etc. That was what I was going to do -- until the first time I had to give a crack mom back her baby. I will never forget that shriveled up looking child -- fullterm length, half term weight, having withdrawal. And the mom on the cellphone, too busy setting up her next fix to even touch her child. That child was as doomed as if I'd thrown it out into the middle of an interstate freeway. Social services had already taken her previous 5 kids away d/t neglect, but she could keep popping one out every year....and she was 19. Even the social worker said "too bad she didn't need a C-section so they could 'accidently' cut her tubes...'"

After that, I was sort of adrift and depressed -- NOW what was I gonna do?

Then I had an orientation in ICU -- and bells, whistles, Hallelujah Chorus, that's what I want, that's really what I think I was meant to do. Maybe when I get too old and brokedown to be a bedside nurse, I can do nursing informatics for an ICU, but I went back to post conference that morning and said, "Dang, I wanna be THAT."

So, even if you think you might want to be one thing going in, only to find that it's not what you thought, keep looking. You'll have your own "Ta-Dah!" moment, and you'll wonder how you could have ever thought of doing anything else.

Good luck, and see ya out in the world.

In all of my 13 years or so of nursing, I have kind of fallen into all my different jobs.... not knowing if I would like them or not....In school I thought I would like L&D but ended up realizing that it was not all fairy tales out there...... and fell into something completley different..... just kind of roll with the rocks...... so to speak-- and I believe you will end up doing what is meant to be. Don't rule out or be closed off to any new opportunities. You just NEVER know what you may fall in love with.....