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If I end up not being satisfied with my area of nursing, how easy can I change it? (ex: Pediatrics to ER nurse)

#nursing #college #career #career-advice #career-choice

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Kathleen’s Answer

Hi Isabel: Ken gives great advice above on how to find your area of nursing interest. If you accept a position and find out you do not like it, my advice would be to stick it out for a year. That will look better on a resume. Then look at the job postings at your hospital or other places to try something different. That is the great advantage of a nursing degree you are flexible to make changes fairly easily. Good Luck.

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Louisa’s Answer

I worked in NICU doing transports never thought I would never leave.....then my children were to old to be home alone. I worked nights they were in bed before I went to work and I was home to wake them up to get to school. Worked well until my oldest was staying up later or getting up after I left. So I needed to change jobs to fit my life style.


I took a position in Home Health and have worked in Home Health and Hospice ever since. After my children were grown I was able to grow my career I was able to take a position opening new Home Health offices in areas and states. I did all of the due diligence to get the office up and running. This also included hiring the staff and bringing the first patient on service. One that I will never forget is; we brought the first baby home for a large university hospital with an unrepaired omphalocele. Because she was so small they would have had to wait for over 6 months to do the surgery so the decision was made to send her home. I went to learn her care and make sure that the other staff and parents were able to care for her.


There are so many options today for nurses; from bedside, teaching, research, IT, sales nearly any area you will find a place for nurses. Most nurses that I know over the 35 years I have been in nursing have done more than one area of nursing. We all grow, change, have life changes and have experiences that influence where we work. Don't worry just enjoy and learn where you start because you will take what you learn to every job you will have in your future. Welcome, we are glad you choose to become a nurses.

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Ken’s Answer

The answer involves getting to know yourself better to be able to focus or refocus your career area and then getting to know people who are doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get to know the inside view of the nursing area or other suitable career area.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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