Will I lose nursing skills working as a wound nurse

[hs2005]

I am considering a position I have been offered in wound care nursing. I am nervous that I will lose valuable nursing skills such as physical assessment, interpretation of lab values etc. working in such a specialized area. I am still a fairly new nurse I guess that is why I am concerned. I am just afraid that if down the road I decide I am bored of wound care nursing that I will have a difficult time getting another job. Anyone else had these concerns when deciding to go into wound care??

[llg, PhD, RN]

Yes. You will. But .... That's true of any job you take. As you work in any job, you strengthen the skills required for that job and some of your other skills start to fade. That's one of the things you need to consider as you explore any career opportunity -- as you wisely seem to be doing.

If you take a pediatric job, your knowledge of adult/med surg fades. Peds nurses don't know the latest treatments, medications, etc. for adult care. If you work adult med/surg for a few years, you forget your OB, peds, etc. knowledge. If you work ICU, you lose the skill of juggling multiple patients and families. People who work in management and/or education loose a few of their bedside skills., etc. etc. etc.

That's just the way it is. It's normal. You just need to decide whether or not the job is sufficiently attractive to you to be worth the sacrifice. How solid are your staff nurse skills? Could you "re-sharpen" them in the future if you wanted to? Would you be willing to do that if necessary? Those are the types of questions we all need to think through as we travel our various career paths. The new experiences add to our skills, but we usually lose a few along the way (or at least they fade a bit as they go unused for a while.)

How do you feel about that? Is that something you can live with right now in your life?

[Jolie, BSN]

Another point you might want to consider is the valuable experience, knowledge base and hands-on skills that you will gain in this new position, but wouldn't have the opportunity to develop in your current role.

I think we sometimes focus too much on the basic "bedside" skills, and fail to recognize that every area of practice carries its own specialized knowledge and skills set.

Is one superior to the other? I personally don't think so.

Good luck in your decision.