How do you choose what nursing field is best for you??

Hi Erin, Choosing the type of nursing that is best for you can be a daunting life decision. Most all nurses have been in this same predicament. There are many approaches to take as you contemplate and evaluate your path in nursing. Let's consider some variable in the decision process.

First, let's review your own personal experiences to date. What academic and clinical environments did you feel supported and comfortable? Was it in long-term care, community health, a hospital rotation or was it in an intensive ICU setting? Which environment did you feel stressful or found that you didn't put 100% into the clinical because you were not as interested in caring for a certain population? Are you more interested in an adult or pediatric population? Perhaps you are more interested in the perinatal or maternal child health population.

Next, was there an area of study that interested you personally such as cardiology, nephrology, or public health nursing? Paying attention to how you are responding and engaging in your studies, which can be a clue to your path. I had the unfortunate experience of losing my father to a massive cardiac thrombosis while in nursing school. When I returned to class after his funeral, the first course I sat through was the first of many on cardiology. Ugh, this was difficult. However, this experience created an interest in working on a telemetry unit at a local hospital in an urban setting. I was a fierce advocate for my patients and made extra care to educate and encourage patients and their family to take better care of their health to prevent future cardiac incidents of any type. I received feedback on my dedication to patient advocacy. This leads me to another variable. What feedback are you getting from your peers and academic faculty about you in your academic experiences? This again can help guide you to a type of nursing that will be best for you.

Secondly, what type of work-life balance do you seek? Are you willing to work hard and pick up shifts out of nursing school, or are you looking for a more steady work schedule? Do you need a flexible work schedule or set hours? Hospitals have many opportunities for picking-up shifts and this can also drive up your bi-weekly and monthly salary. Working in the OR may have more predictable hours for routine surgeries. This may help you decide what area of nursing to pursue.

In the end, you can always change your path, which is why nursing is a great profession. Each type of nursing comes with a different culture and mindset. One environment may not be as supportive as another, and you can make a change, with a little planning within a short time period. You can change nursing disciplines. Yet, It is important to work somewhere that has supportive management --this is key to being a happy nurse in any job or path you choose. Be prepared to make hard decisions in order to be happy and continue enjoying nursing year after year.

There are so many things to consider when selecting a nursing specialty. However, first and foremost, one has to conduct a personal assessment. What type of person you are? What do you like in nursing? What population you may want to serve. Please keep in mind there are a plethora of opportunities within the nursing profession and even after you have selected on, you may change your specialty later in your career. From a personal aspect, I went from Med/Surg, to Telemetry, to ICU, to Psych, to Managed Care, to ER, to Nursing Education. Of course this took place over a 34-35 year period of time. If you can speak to other nurses. I will say that my two favorites are the ER and Nursing Education. In your spare time, please review this link for further assistance. https://www.americansentinel.edu/blog/2012/12/27/ten-things-to-consider-when-choosing-a-nursing-specialty/ Best wishes.

The Nursing Program gives a broad range of study. At that time you can determine what it is you might like (Psychology, Labor &Delivery, Home Health, Burn Unit (BICU),etc). If you have an affinity towards children you may want Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) or Pediatrics/ Intensive Care Unit (Peds or PICU). If you are not sure you may just want to do Med Surg (general population) and move from there. Be sure and learn the Nurse Fundamentals! I myself like surgery. But being a nurse gives you many many opportunities in life (travel nurse, military etc). It is actually a wonderful program..very rigorous and disciplined. So when you enter into the program the different clinical activities, care plans and patients will help you to determine what it is you would like to do if you are not sure at this point. You can also 'float' if you want to get a feel for different departments and settle in on one. Remember the sky is the limit in the nursing field. It is a wonderful field to enter. Pass the NCLEX (license) and you are good to go. Hope it works out for you. Good luck and God bless!