Your Specialty & Why

Published

Hi all,

Im a pre-nursing student and just wondering how long you have been at your current specialty & why? Is there something about your personality that meshes with it? Life-altering experience? Accident? Is it where you thought you would be when you began nursing school? And what specialty, if so, would you like to work next and why?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Acute Care Pediatrics.

I dreaded my pediatric rotation in school with every ounce of my being. The thought of working with sick kids day in and day out seemed sad and horrible. Then I had my clinical in my hospital where I currently work... and it was as if something clicked. I felt like a nurse. I knew from the end of my first clinical day that this is where I belonged. :)

Children are awesome patients. They are resilient, brave, funny, honest. They whine less than adults. They work harder. They smile more. They are thankful. I love my patients and their families.... it's such a blast working where I work, most days anyway. :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Peds critical care.

I had the same experience as PedsRN did. Dreaded my peds rotation before doing it.

Then fell in love with it. For all the same reasons.

Been at it for 15 yrs now.

What area are you thinking about and why?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

Psych, and do you want the brutally honest answer or the nice fluffy PR answer? Both are 100% accurate, BTW. :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Anesthesia, ICU, PCU.

I actually dreaded my pediatrics rotation in nursing school before I even did it, then absolutely loved it once I had it. I imagine I'd like it as a nurse too, but there was no hope for getting such a job out of nursing school. I'm in my current specialty because that's what I could get.. and in this job market (particularly in this city) that's what you take. Now I'd be afraid all over again to go back to peds because I'm now used to taking care of adult stepdown patients!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

@ brattygrl Im thinking of L&D because I want to eventually be a midwife. I am thinking that I wouldnt mind a year or two of a different specialty just to have a more solid base but if I manage an L&D position as a new grad I think I'd be crazy to pass it up. Ive been a doula, had a c-section & a homebirth with a CNM, and spent a year working at a birth center. I love labor and delivery in and of itself, actually very little of my love has to do with babies (although its a nice bonus to be around).

@ Meriwhengive it to me straight!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

Well I am not sure I still know where my niche is in nursing. I currently work ER. I love the variety. I have no idea at the start of any shift what sort of pts I will be caring for. It is busy with pts constantly getting discharged and new ones arriving, and you have to be able to keep up. Despite the business of it, one of my favorite qualities about the ER is the team oriented work ethic. When your pt crashes, or you just got 2 new pts back to back, your coworkers are right there helping. I also love that I can know how to treat anyone from a new born baby, to the elderly, including everything in between.

Just wanted to add that in nursing school we spent a day observing in the ER and I had an interest, but did not want to start out there right out of school. So I worked pediatrics and med-surg for a years before getting up the nerve to apply for an ER job

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, ED.

When I started nursing school I didn't want anything to do with the adult population and was interested in either L&D, NICU, or peds. I ended up hating all three of those areas and falling in love with the ICU.The last place I thought I'd ever be was an adult ICU, and that's where I ended up! I have a type A personality (which is definitely a typical personality of ICU nurses) so I feel right at home. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Bump. Anyone else?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in pediatrics; PICU; NICU.

I knew before I started school I did not want to work with adults. They are the biggest, whiniest people on earth! I knew I wanted to work in Peds & I got 5 job offers in Peds from different hospitals before I graduated. Now 36+ years later, I have absolutely no regrets. I love my patients & their families and wouldn't change specialties for anything.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
@ Meriwhengive it to me straight!!!

Brutally honest: It was psych or a progressive care (stepdown) unit, and the psych position was 8s vs 12s on the PCU. With 12s, my toddler would have spent 14+ hours in childcare on workdays. I didn't want that for him. That and I feel like I'm actually interacting with my patients in psych, instead of acting like a glorified waitress who has to deal with endless call bells, demanding family members and endless "customer service" mandates before they can even get around to the patient's care.

No disrespect meant to any other specialty at all: it's just that those specialties have those particular headaches to deal with, whereas we in psych don't have to deal with them as much. Plus talking to the patient is one of our main interventions. We do have different headaches though.

PC answer: I find psych to be far more fascinating than my clinical experience would have lead me to believe, and I'm helping out an underserved and often misaligned population. Of course, it took me a few months of working in the position to realize how much I loved it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.

Thought I'd love Peds prior to school. But during clinicals found out Peds was my least favorite area. Never want to work NICU either, those little itty-bitty, fragile babies scare the crap out of me.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion