Where is your heart at?

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I graduating in December (big smile as I type that:yeah:). I am told that I should work 2 years on the floor of the Med/Surg unit to get a varitey of experience before I move on to a specialty. I was wondering where did you find your passion...if you have found it yet...and how can I find mine? I have enjoyed nearly all of my clinical rotations, I really think I could be happy wherever I land. But I want to love what I do...any suggestions?

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That's a good thing. Don't be picky. I do not like peds or maternity but if the oppurtunity presents itself. I want to be dialysis nurse, radiology nurse, piccline (assist with picc line insertion guess they are associated with radiology) nurse ultimately. I shadowed these positions and I was excited, it will take some work to get there but I'll make it. My friends stepdad use to go to dialysis so I have been obsessed with dialysis since I was 5 (1st choice was not to be a nurse but since I am I want to be a dialysis nurse). Then when trying to pick a career it was between pharmacy (whew that program was to rigorous for my 18 yr old brain), medical technology, and nursing. Pharmacy that damn chemistry, medical technology was not an option at my college as far as a bachelors degree so nursing it was. So to get what I want and love second would be to go into radiology as a RN so I could get the medical technolgy part that I love. Well second would be home health, I love the patient care, education, etc. So1.dialysis, 2. home health 3. radiology I have 3 loves

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Specializes in I/DD.

From what I have heard, there is no formula for how long you should work in med-surg before specializing. I have always loved cardiac, so it was only natural for me to pick a cardiovascular surgical PCU to start on. While I originally wanted to start ICU, I thought I should start on the floor and get some experience before moving on the the unit. I'm not very far in but very glad I made that choice. So I suppose I have specialized, but it isn't my "ultimate" goal. It is a great unit to start on because there is a lot of variety between our cardiac and vascular patients.

If you enjoy a variety of patients, then med-surg might be for you, but don't listen to people who say that it is the only place to start. I was a tech in an ICU and most of the newly hired nurses were GN's. The reason I didn't start there was for my own benefit, not because people said that a new nurse should never start in the ICU. So basically just apply to whatever units sound fun to you and ask if you can shadow there (my hospital requires shadowing a unit as part of the interview process).

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Specializes in ER, Mother/Baby.

Start with what you want, if it is a specialty so be it. If u like Med/surgery then go for it but there is no formula for what a nurse needs to go into, follow your heart.

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Specializes in Psych, EMS.

Starting out in med/surg is great in theory. It will solidify your clinical skills, time management skills, and you will be exposed to a wide variety of pts and disease processes.

However, some employers and NM are not always impressed with the golden year or two of Med/Surg. Many times they want experience in that particular field, such as NICU or critical care. So if you go Med/Surg to make yourself more marketable, check job requirements for jobs in other fields that interest and see if this your experience or not.

Follow your bliss. For me, that was psych. We're notorious for losing our skills and rote medical knowledge..but who cares, I like it.

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I don't really agree with that advice. I HATE med/surg and I really don't like working with adults. It would have been two years of hating my life/job for no reason, had I followed that advice. I LOVE what I do, I'm so thankful everyday that I get to do something that I am excited by and feel passionate about.

All I've ever wanted to do was work in NICU. I got a job as a new LPN in a pediatric specialty hospital, while working on my RN. Working in peds/doing a NICU clinical rotation made me realize PICU was more interesting to me. I took RN boards July 1, and apply for a PICU position a few weeks later. Got an interview and got hired!

When I interview for the PICU they specifically told me that adult ICU/adult specialties are so different than peds that they wouldn't have given me an interview if I'd not been working with kids already. Some of the skills/basics would be helpful, but all the meds/protocols for kids are a lot different then they are for adults.

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My passion is ER! Give me all the drunks, traumas, assaults, gun shot wounds and all the drama and choas that goes with it! I have alot of energy and I like variety of patients and I need to constantly be going or moving. ER gives me that "rush". I am also passionate about becoming a SANE and that's where my compassion lie.

Then there is forensics! Just gets my blood pumping! Working on getting forensic certified.

Never in a million years I would have thought I would like ER nursing.

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Specializes in PICU.

I've always known that I wanted to work with children, even before I started nursing school. My ability to shadow on multiple pediatric units (PICU, peds ER, NICU, Peds OR/PACU), pediatric clinical rotations + pediatric community rotation, and my practicum in the PICU really made me realize that I love pediatrics and thats the population that I really want to work with! My senior practicum also made me realize that I love the ICU setting.

I'll be starting in the PICU as a new grad in a few weeks and I'm extremely excited about it. I also work with pediatrics as a per diem position when I obtained my license. I guess I've just always known I wanted to work with kids. =) I honestly don't have anything against adults! I always enjoyed taking care of them, but PICU is where my heart is.

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Specializes in Postpartum, Mother-baby.

Right now, I am a on a med/surg unit and I am dreading it! :crying2: I guess my heart is not there, I NEVER wanted to work on a med-surg unit but that's the only place that will hire me. I love women's health! I want to work in a postpartum, L&D or antepartum unit. Ever since nursing school, I was not into the other rotations except L/D and psych. Hopefully, I get to change soon. Eventually, I want to get my masters and Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. I am into birth control, and want to work in a clinic similiar to Planned Parenthood.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

I'm in the camp that says you don't need med/surg experience before jumping into a specialty. I went straight to peds and also cared for med/surg overflow patients. Many of the clinical skills were overlapping, but the developmental level and approach was completely different. So far I haven't had any desire to work in any other specialty, so I think peds is it for me. :)

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Specializes in MSN, FNP-BC.

I knew before I started nursing school that I wanted to be in the ICU setting. I worked as a tech on a SAC floor and floated regularly to the ICU.

There was just something there that clicked. I liked the patients. I like the fact that the docs are dedicated to that unit and are readily available to be at the bedside immediately unlike some other areas. I really like the people I have met in the ICU world.

One thing is I NEVER though I would end up in newborn ICU. The thought never really crossed my mind. I knew a couple of people who worked there and one was trying to recruit me before nursing school but I never thought I could do it.

I used to always say that Peds scared me (at that time I considered NBICU as part of peds...little did I know!) and that I would stay as far away as possible from there.

We got to our L&D and Peds rotation in school and who would have thought? Ha! I'm not a fan of L&D, I knew that from the get-go for various reasons, but when I got to assess the babies........LOVE!.

Next semester was our peds rotation and we went to the general peds unit. I fell in absolute love with this and even comtemplated asking to do my preceptorship there instead of the ICU but a part of me was sill with the ICU so I went there instead.

Then a week after graduation, I get a phone call from HR in the hospital I externed at asking me if I wanted to interview for a newborn ICU position. My first instinct was yes because, well duh, I needed a job!

When I hung up the phone I freaked out becuase I had no clue about what I was getting myself into so I actually studied and did research on the NBICU before my interview.

I was desperate for a job and this was the ICU where I knew I wanted to work. I figured that if this didn't work out, I could always transfer to the adult ICU I did my preceptorship in.

I was still slow to warm up to the idea of working with the neonates. About two and a half months in, things started to click and I fell in love.

I now have absolutely no desire to go back to the adult world where I was once called names, had things thrown at, kicked multiple times, would walk into rooms where people were laying in beds overflowing with poo.

I NEVER see c-diff anymore! Most of my patients can fit in my hand so my back doesn't hurt when I leave. My patients aren't able to call me bad names and most of the time the families are so gracious for doing what we do to save their little one that we don't get abuse from them. I work with a fantastic team of seasoned nurses and practitioners. I've never worked in an environment with this much teamwork between the practitioners and the nurses.

I actually like it so much that I am looking into getting my NNP.

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My last semester of nursing school I got the preceptorship of my dreams.....SICU! after that....I was sold...the trauma,codes, never knowing what you would be admitting.....amazing! Throughout school I was a nurse tech on a med/surg floor and ended up getting hired into a med/surg/oncology floor. The nurses were great, but I knew it wasn't for me.....I just got a spot in a critical care rotation program with the promise of an ICU position at the end and am estatic. I hated med/surg in nursing school....tolerated it while I worked, I had great coworkers, decent pay/benefits/experience I couldn't trade in. If you don't know what you want to do....it's a tough market....I had to take the first job available. ALL jobs are great experience and you can switch fields any time. That's the glory of nursing! You can teach, precept, change fields......so best of luck! You'll find your way, we all do eventually! :)

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