Which area of nursing is fit for me?

Nurses New Nurse

Published

I dont know how to figure out what I want because i am too pressured ppl abd the fact that i "have" to do this or do that to gain experience and meanwhile find my nitch.. i dont wanna waster any more time in wrond areas....please help

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

What interests you? If you're still not sure, you might want to focus on something like med/surg, which is good general experience with a lot of variety, and you can go from there. If you start out in a specialty, it can (though isn't always) harder to move into something else. If your heart isn't set on one area, go with something broad like that to really nail down your skills and critical thinking. If your market is anything like the one here (as I see you're also in CA), take what you can get for now!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I really dislike the question "What kind of nurse do you want to be?"

My answer "A good one".

What they really mean, is what specialty?

I never know how to answer that because I don't know what I don't know. Meaning....I know women's health since I've been seeing GYNs for 20 years and had 3 kids - all with very different deliveries. Mom had breast cancer and MIL passed with another form of cancer so I'm scared away from Oncology. Both grandfathers passed from blood clots that got loose post-surgery and I find wound care fascinating so I consider med/surg. I love kids, having taught preschool, but not sure I want to see them in pain so Peds is a toss-up. I love the elderly so Geriatrics is a possibility. I'm no adrenaline junkie so I doubt I'd like the ER. I am very detail oriented so the OR might be a good fit. Ortho just looks painful! But there are SO many specialties that I've never tried. How can I select one when I don't know what I'm missing?

Too many times, I've pre-judged a scenario and thought I'd love or hate something only to find out my feelings on the topic completely changed once I experienced more so I'm hesitant to declare a specialty too early. I'm starting a nursing program this Fall and am considering a per diem CNA or PCA job in a float pool. If I can float to different depts, maybe I'll get a better feel for what I like and don't like. While my role will be completely different from the RN's role, perhaps I'll be able to see enough to get a feel for their job as well as how the dept runs (every dept is very different).

Do you have an opportunity to "try on" different specialties so see what you like?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment