Career Corner >> Career Advice >> Nursing student needing advice
Nursing student needing advice
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Posted 2 months ago I am currently in RN school. I will graduate in May. I want to move from Alabama to tennessee next summer. I am scared. I am not sure where I want to work. I really think I want to work in the OR but I'm not sure. I feel lost and overwhelmed. I want to work in a high paying department but am not sure what that is. Can anyone give me any advice. Thanks. |
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| Posted 2 months ago Why not work in med surg for a year and decide then? The experience you would obtain is invaluable. Back in the old days, you had to work at least one full year on a med surg floor to gain experience and sharpen your assessment skills before a facility would invest their time and money into educating a new nurse in a speciality. Deb
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| Posted 2 months ago I like dmazment's advice, j. I was lucky enough to wind up in a unit--medical telemetry--where the veteran nurses were really med-surg nurses; they drew the additional assignment of starting to monitor patient heart rhythms. These folks know their stuff, and it's a pleasure working with them. I also suspect that about the only thing that can ruin your eventual choice is a high patient load and petty co-workers. Getting your feet wet working in a hospital will probably also help--getting a part-time job as an aide, a clinical assistant, a nurse tech, or something similar. You'll earn while you learn. |
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| Posted 2 months ago I agree with dmazment you should start out in Med/surg and get your feet wet and get some experience do a little bit of everything, that is what I always told my students. Once your there for a while you will begin to get a feel for the kind of patient's you enjoy caring for. A busy RN is here |
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| Posted 2 months ago I can only sound like a parrot.....dive into med/surg....dive into med/surg...B-A-L-K!!!!! The one thing you will likely find the most difficult in the beginning is ... prioritizing and time management.. Med/Surg is the BEST way to get grounded... do about a year...you will feel like and be treated like a veteran at the end of the year... it goes really fast...then........the rest is GRAVY! RELAX....you will find your niche so enough......just get in the game....stay there...and enjoy!!! |
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| Posted 2 months ago By the way...where in Tennessee do you want to go...my alma mater is there (all 3!)... anything or anyplace particular you might want do or go to?
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| Posted 2 months ago I am thinking about moving around Murfreesboro/Nashville area. We are doing alot of research righ now. Any suggestions on good places to live. We have 3 children that will be moving with us. We need good schools. Thanks for everyone's advice. |
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| Posted 2 months ago Hi Janice! Murfreesboro is a nice area. Try to stay away from Nashville (at least 45 minutes). That area is getting really rough! I lived in the NE "finger" in Johnson City. GREAT schools (I taught at Science Hill High--has regular school and vo-tech!), rated every year at 1 and 2 in the state consistently. Quiet, safe--BIG ENOUGH but not TOO big. Nice mall and 20 minutes from everything and anything beautiful! (Guess I'm a little prejudice :-} ) REALLY great medical community, strong and growing! State University with Med School in town! Big hospital (Johnson City Medical Center) but not BIG CORPORATE!! Also, Veterans Hospital in town! Home town feel but not hokey -- if you know what I mean! Good luck with the search--be praying for you and the family! Have a blessed day! |
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| Posted 2 months ago Also, only 1 hour from Knoxville to the southeast and 1 hour to some of the GREATEST snow skiing in the east in Boone, NC.
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| Posted 2 months ago I love Chattanooga. Deb
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| Posted 2 months ago Chattanooga is very nice. Karen Swift Jackson RN |
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| Posted 2 months ago I like dmazment advice and you should really consider it. I am hoping to move to Chattanooga Tennessee when I finish nursing school. |
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| Posted 2 months ago I agree with the advice to work Med-Surg or even work in Telemetry for a year prior to going into the OR. I am currently working in the OR, but have Changed areas and recently returned to the OR. My first year of Med-Surg gave me perspective that has been priceless. The appreciation for my year in Med-Surg did not come about until years later, and Med-Surg was not always fun, but the connections and experience I gained has been SOOOOO VALUABLE. You can never Redo your First Year As a RN. Good luck
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| Posted 2 months ago I'm another parrot..........MED-SURG for at least a year. We alll want that high paying nursing job! To get to that high paying job you might want to check to see what the starting pay is for them. In Chattanooga Erlanger and Memorial are nice. In Knoxville <I love Knoxville, there are a bunch of hospitals, including the University of Tennessee Hospital I think, plus its close to Gatlinburg and Pidgeon Forge.........ooohh..........and Cherokee if you gamble. All fun aside, all nurses need med surge if they want to keep from being unsafe. Go Vols!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We only have one heart, take care of it! Angie |
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| Posted 2 months ago dmazment says ...
Jan,
I agree here with dmazment here; you will have just moved and there will be too many skills that you might miss, that down the road-should you specialize earlly-you'll expect of yourself to have, or worse yet, SOMEONE ELSE will expect you to have them. I ignored the advice of an instructor in nursing school who said to spend a few years in med-surg and THEN specialize. I knew better than her and i went to work in a burn unit-right as a new grad. WORST MOVE I COULD EVER HAD MADE. It took my ego a long time to recover from the bumps and bruises I suffered because I was 'smarter' than my clinical instructor. |