3 answers
1
Question
Updated
503 views
Which nursing field should I enter?
I want to learn more in-depth about certain fields to gain more insight on the advantages and cons of each.
Login to comment
3 answers
Updated
Nancy’s Answer
From my time as a nurse and a former Nurse Educator, I've seen how helpful it is for new nurses to start on a med/surg inpatient floor. Here, you'll get to care for different types of patients and really sharpen your clinical skills. You might even discover a patient group, disease, or service line that really interests you. Chat with other nurses to find out what attracted them to their specialties. Everyone has a unique story about how they found their path.
Updated
Christine’s Answer
Nursing has so many areas you can move into. I completely agree with Nancy, I actually started off as a new nursing on a med-surg inpatient unit. Working on those units really give you a good basis of knowledge that is transferrable to so many other speciality areas! I still occasionally draw on that experience even working today and I have not worked in direct care for many years. After I left med-surg, I actually worked in the endoscopy suite at the hospital, then moved to outpatient endoscopy before moving out of direct care. Several of the nurses I worked with some of whom I started with on the med-surg unit moved to oncology, ICU, Peds, the ED, labor and delivery.
Chat with other nurses either at school (i.e. clinical instructors or professors) and learn about their journeys. School will also give you a great window to help you find what piques your interest more. I started of wanting to be a psych nurse/therapist but then I realized it really didn't capture my interest enough to make a career from it. I really enjoyed my rotations where I was in the ICU and that was sort of my plan, but then other opportunities came my way.
Wishing you well and keep a very open mind, and you will be bound to see something that you take a stronger interest in.
Chat with other nurses either at school (i.e. clinical instructors or professors) and learn about their journeys. School will also give you a great window to help you find what piques your interest more. I started of wanting to be a psych nurse/therapist but then I realized it really didn't capture my interest enough to make a career from it. I really enjoyed my rotations where I was in the ICU and that was sort of my plan, but then other opportunities came my way.
Wishing you well and keep a very open mind, and you will be bound to see something that you take a stronger interest in.
Updated
Dr’s Answer
Hey Sylvia, great question! Alright so, nursing is such a diverse field, and the path you choose really depends on your personality, interests, and lifestyle goals.
Now, if you love fast-paced environments and want to deal with a variety of cases, Emergency Nursing or ICU might suit you. It’s high-stress, but super rewarding. Next, if you are tho more into long-term care and building deeper patient relationships, then I recommend looking into Pediatrics, Geriatrics, or Oncology are powerful fields where compassion really shines. But if you're interested in leadership or systems, you could try Nurse Administration, Public Health, or Nurse Education could be it but you gotta keep searching whichever you feel like you want to try. And for flexibility and autonomy, know that, Nurse Practitioner routes can open a lot of doors, even independent practice, depending on your state.
Now, the great thing is that you’re not locked in. Nursing allows room to grow, pivot, and evolve, and that’s part of what makes it such a meaningful career. Hope this helped clear things out Sylvia. Be sure to keep looking into the part of the job that interested you, I have just given you a rough list but if you do have any further question feel free to reach out anytime and good luck out there.
Try shadowing nurses in different departments or talk to professionals in each specialty., talking in person gives you a really different vibe and feeling trust me. You could also look into online panels or nursing forums to hear real-world stories.
Now, if you love fast-paced environments and want to deal with a variety of cases, Emergency Nursing or ICU might suit you. It’s high-stress, but super rewarding. Next, if you are tho more into long-term care and building deeper patient relationships, then I recommend looking into Pediatrics, Geriatrics, or Oncology are powerful fields where compassion really shines. But if you're interested in leadership or systems, you could try Nurse Administration, Public Health, or Nurse Education could be it but you gotta keep searching whichever you feel like you want to try. And for flexibility and autonomy, know that, Nurse Practitioner routes can open a lot of doors, even independent practice, depending on your state.
Now, the great thing is that you’re not locked in. Nursing allows room to grow, pivot, and evolve, and that’s part of what makes it such a meaningful career. Hope this helped clear things out Sylvia. Be sure to keep looking into the part of the job that interested you, I have just given you a rough list but if you do have any further question feel free to reach out anytime and good luck out there.
Dr recommends the following next steps:
Thank you, this is really helpful.