Which area should I apply to?

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · May 21, 2014

I would apply to everything unless you have an area that you absolutely hate an area like let's say you couldn't stand looking at a baby pop out. However, keep in mind that those three are specialty areas and it may not transfer well to other areas. A lot of ICU nurses complain that they cannot handle 4 or 5 stepdown patients or 6 or 7 med-surg patients. A lot of ER nurses also complain that they cannot handle going back into floor nursing, even ICU. Keep that in mind.

ER can also be unforgiving too. The patients don't stop just because you have a full waiting room. It won't be a steady pace of you have an admission and then someone else has an admission. it could be you have 1 patient but then four patients walk in the door and 4 squads call in to give report. Every one else managed to get sicker patients that weren't discharged in a timely manner so you get 3 of those four squads. Ideally your coworkers could be helping you out but let's say one of their patients is crashing.

I remember one day we were slow all night and 1 am came around. I was phleb for the night instead of my usual paramedic role so I was supposed to go home. We ended up with four nursing home patients and all of them were sick. I ended up staying till 3:30 am when the patients were mostly stabilized and just waiting for rooms. So a 12 hour day turned into a 14.5 hour day. Remember that you can also get held too as a nurse. Ideally they won't but if crap goes down...

Also, are you comfortable with the possibility of seeing a child die in front of you? If you're a small hospital, they are probably coming to you. What about the kid who has "hives" on her thigh but it magically looks like a burn, especially with that uniform pattern? Also, everything will probably come and if they have to go to a trauma center, they will call a helicopter to meet them at your hospital. So even though you're a small rural hospital, the ambulances will bring crap to you. I've seen worst accidents at a rural hospital ER when I was a PCT than when I was a paramedic in a level III trauma center. Why? Because the level I trauma center was 10 minutes away and then other two Level Is were within 20 to 30 minutes.

However the ER can also be quite fun. You get to practice quite a bit of skills such as inserting foleys, IV sticks, learning about different procedures, and you get to work on your people skills. You learn quickly too. You will be sent to ACLS and PALs classes and maybe even TNCC eventually. You will have to learn a bunch of skills.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · May 21, 2014

Thank you so much! I might just apply to all of them. I wish there was a med surg unit but there isn't. This has really opened my eyes a lot more.

I really like the thought of ER to practice & hone my skills. I guess I'll see where they take me.

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · May 21, 2014

ER is a really good area to start in if you want to stay in ER. I was scared of getting type-cast as an ER nurse because a lot of the charges started out in ER and were no longer able to get into "med-surg" mode. They talked about how a lot of flight programs also want ICU experience versus ER although they do take ER (I don't want to fly but that was a common point they brought up). Same with L&D. Some people have difficulty getting a job in another area.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · May 21, 2014

I wish this hospital had a med surg unit. I don't want to get "stuck" in one area. I just wouldn't be able to handle driving 1 hour+ after a 12+ hour day. Maybe I can float & learn all the areas after a year.