How did you find the right specialty for you? I feel so lost in this profession and I’m only 2 years in 😞

I'm a Diploma grad....3 year program. I started in Surgical ICU straight out of school. I thought it sounded challenging and it was. And I LOVED it. I was among the first sent out of town to learn how to care for fresh open hearts! I loved the challenges and the patients I cared for! After 15 years I was approached to head the IV team. I did that and loved it also. After a time there, I was approached to start Home Infusion program. Another job I loved and did until my retirement after a total of 45 years!
What do you lean towards? There are SO many options!!! Did you have an area in school that you enjoyed a lot? Or maybe you would be happiest being a home care RN? You are independent and have a wide variety of patient types in this area.
I don't know if I helped you.. I hope so. If there is anything you want to ask me feel free to do so! BTW, I cried when I retired! It wasn't my choice but they shut down home infusion (story for another time) and I had 45 years, so retired. May God bless you and help make your decision.

I joined the float pool at the hospital so I could experience every department

Take some time off to do some "Soul searching"
Do you love Kids or Adults?
Do you love Babies vs Older Adults?
Do you love flexible Shifts?
Do you love teaching?
Do you love Teenagers?
Do you like Bedside or Outpatient?
Do you love Research or Bedside?
Do you love Technology?
Do you love preventative Care or Acute Care
Do you love fast paced Rhythm or low paced Rhythm
Based on your answers, it will help you know
if you should work with Babies or young Teens
Do you prefer younger Adults or Older Adults
Do you prefer Clinics or Hospitals
Do you like teaching Information or Informatics
Based on looking into your Soul for what part of Nursing
You look forward to doing within your Shift
You would have found your Niche
Interestingly there is "Comedy Nurses" now on Youtube
I love Nurse Blake on Instagram
I wish you the best of luck

Originally I wanted to work in peds but I just couldn't find a job. I ended up taking a postpartum job at the hospital where I did my externship because well.. babies are a subset of peds so I figured it would give me some experience that was vaguely relevant. I found myself always volunteering to admit the babies that had just been delivered. L&D kind of adopted me and kept telling me to apply. I was not enamored with postpartum so I did. And I fell in love with it! Even with all the scary ups and downs that have come along. My point is that sometimes your specialty finds you.

Sorry to hear you are feeling lost. I went to nursing school knowing I wanted to be a psych nurse because I was already working as a cna in an inpatient psych hospital, so for me it was easy. My advice would be to try other specialties, per dm or part time at first. If bedside nursing is the issue, teaching, consulting, writing are some paths you can take, but need to accumulate some good experience and/or knowledge before leaping over. I would suggest enrolling advancing your degree, BSN or even MSN, while thinking of your next options.
speaking from experience, even when you like what you do, you get to a point where you don't want to keep doing the same thing. Luckily, as nurses, there are so many niches/options to choose from. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Mark, psych nurse 9 years

Ok nursing is amazing. There’s so much you could do it’s just a matter of doing research. wether you want to work m-f or 3 days a week. Inpatient or outpatient, fast pace or slow, plenty of options. Also, some people realize nursing isn’t for them once they start working as nurses and if you are not caring then you should probably leave the profession.

Try them all until you find the one for you!

QUITE BY ACCIDENT.
I WAS WORKING IN A FIELD THAT I THOUGHT WAS MATCHED TO MY TRAINING BUT I DISLIKED IT INTENSLY.
I HAPPENED TO SEE AN AD IN MY LOCAL PAPER AND ANSEWERED IT!
IT TURNED INTO A 30 PLUS CAREER WHICH I LOVE!

I love kids. The only field I wanted was pediatrics. After 40yrs I never questioned my choice.

I worked in a hospital and changed specialties every three years so I wouldn’t get bored or burned out until I found my niche in the ICU. I also put my self on the float list to try out new areas and learn new skills or the same skills in new ways. Later when hospital hours became impossible due to unexpected life circumstances I switched to an outpatient dialysis clinic which I had already been interested in trying. It is also a much better paycheck than the hospital. Don’t give up hope. You are never stuck in nursing. There is so much to explore in different areas. You just need a a little bit of courage to change it up and have fun exploring what’s out there.

I knew I loved starting IVS and monitoring patients during infusions. I liked outpatient setting.. so the infusion center was a perfect fit… to find your specialty.. don’t make it too tough.. what do you like? What do you want to learn more about? So many opportunities… try something you have a huge interest in.. and you can always change if it doesn’t fit.

I’m still searching 3 1/2 years in! I don’t think it exists, just plain burnt out and ready to retire

I took a travel assignment at a Psychiatric Hospital in Grand Rapids MI & I absolutely love it!! I love working with my patients, & I love the people I work with, but, I am moving back to Ohio, & hope to find a job just like it!

I always kept a curiosity about new opportunities. And a can do attitude. “If I don’t know something , am not afraid to ask”
Go for whatever sounds interesting or if you’re up for it, what will challenge you as that’s often where career growth and maturity comes from.
My near 40 yr career first started as an LPN for 8 yrs, then as RN. I joined in the first year of “RN to MSN bridge programs” but left unfinished with 9 months remaining. Reaching beyond the BSN point, it would’ve been given (as an extra envelope) when completing the MSN.
My career has jumped all over from
EOC: acute care, ambulatory, riding ambulance, urgent care center, research, conscious sedation in a dental college hospital, ambulatory, insurance arena,
All starting out in home health care-peds.
Clinically: maternal child health, peds, adolescents and adults, wound care, hiv infusion, psychiatry, substance use, hospice, supervisor, care manager,
working in these areas: hands on patient care, addiction counselor, grant writing, certified case mgr, infection control, risk mgt, quality, program project mgt, patient safety healthcare mgt,with some roles as:President, Co-founder of 3 organizations, COO, Director of Nsg and Patent Services, manager of Catastrophic CM, etc.
As an Associate degree nurse. I did pick up a few certifications along the way. The varied experiences, skill sets and knowledge base provided extreme value for a smaller to regular size institution or organization. I received letters from 2 very famous large hospital organizations applauding my “high level of qualifications but unfortunately was not chosen for the Nurse Manager position due to lack of credentials”. The large well known hospitals only care about credentials.

I work ER and it’s such a love and hate. I get easily bored on redundancy and not enough action in the floor. I love the chaos but when I wanna chill, I’d pick a shift in PACU. Now if your still feeling the burnt out, I suggest you go on a nice vacay and exercise. It will make you have a different perspective when you clear your mind.

When I was a beginner in my profession I was not sure what to choose
However I got rotated in many departments
When I started to work in operating room I felt as if like home .truly speaking my preceptor made me to feel that.My manager was very supportive.A beginner in any field need a helping hand and support.that’s all

I knew that I wanted to be a nurse practitioner from early on. I like the freedom to see patients and make a difference for them. I research a lot and find the best outcomes for the people I see.
I have worked in a NICU (for 23 yrs) and now work in a prison and I have loved all of it.

Follow your passion in life. If you’re not sure, start in med/surgical unit. You will get a lot of experience and it may drive you to a specialty area. Best of luck!

I lucked out. The started as a Scrub tech in surgery. Knew I was more than likely going to stay in the OR as a nurse but clinicals gave me the opportunity to see other departments. The ONLY depts I liked enough to be a nurse in was 1.OR 2.Psych and 3. Maybe the ED. If you’re 2 years in, research other avenues of nursing. Think back to what you were interested in during clinicals. Transfer. Get experienced there. If you don’t like that dept, generally you’re only required to stay a year. Transfer somewhere else. Eventually you’ll find your area. Or you may decide you should do non-bedside. Maybe education.

Don’t be discouraged. Does your hospital have a program where you can float to different floors? Sometimes this will help you find the place that feels like home to you. Nursing has really changed a lot over the 42 years that I’ve been doing this. If you have strong people on your unit that you can latch onto, and use as support, that may help you. The hospital may not be the setting that feels right for you. Sometimes going to a clinic maybe better for you. I hope you find your fit and things work out better for you.

What do you feel passionate about? Pediatrics or gerontology? Helping people with addictions or in terrible pain..it's up to you. Patients and your peers can tell when you're passionate about what you're doing, so can your boss. I recommend trying several different things/specialties find out which is the best fit for you then go with it as much as you can but that better your care giving. You might want to switch after a certain amount of time and that's fine too.

You should try yourself in different area until you know where heart belongs to. Some people know exactly what they want from the beginning, but sometimes it takes a while to find your passion. Just keep trying.

Ya know, I just moved around until I found a field I felt was my calling. It’s only been 2 years; you will know when you’re there. I’ve been a Nurse for 22 years and moved around until I found my niche

You must see what interests you and what you think will utilize your talents and skills. The work environment is vital too. I tried 3-5 different areas before I settled into Public Health.

For me it was simply taking opportunities as they presented themselves. Initially I wanted either cardiac or oncology. Never did much of either. I took positions that sounded interesting at the time. After I learned from one position and was knowledgeable about if I was ready to move on to the next challenge. It kept things new and interesting for me. Don't stop learning and growing.

It is important that you build a hood has before you choice to specialize because it can be overwhelming at first! Take your r time and find a place where you can build your confidence and clinical knowledge before trying to mail down a specialty. Having a firm medical surgical knowledge base is fundamental in making a great nurse.

I always knew there were two specialites I wanted to work in. I started in psychiatric nursing and went on to a mixed med/surg ICU unit, and did 13 years in each all told. I also did a bit of ER nursing and some management. Now, having been an RN for 46 years and an NP for 25, I am working in neuro testing at an NP-run clinic. My advice to you is that wonderful song from the movie Zootopia: "Try Everything!" I taught undergraduate nursing at a local university for 18 years and often found students didn't really feel the right fit when they first started their professional work. My advice to them was always the same: try something different. You will build experience in other areas which is always valuable, as it makes you more flexible. And you eventually will find your niche. Keep going, and good luck!

Hi, Ive been a nurse for about 15 years and I still occasionally ask myself this question. Now sometimes I think we want things to happen right away but in nursing you just have to go through it, experience it and then decide if you like it, if not move on to the next there are so many options in nursing.

Patients care