Know Yourself! Things to Consider When Choosing a Nursing Specialty
You’re ready to switch your nursing specialty or start down your path — but how do you figure out where the best place to go is? Or maybe you have an idea of where you want to go, but you don’t know how to tell if it’s the right decision. Either way, you’ll want to ask yourself the questions below and stack your insights up against the specialties you may be considering, or even to discover specialties you may have overlooked.
Are You a True People Person?
You may care for and have dedicated your life to helping people, but there’s no shame in admitting that you don’t love directly interacting with them all the time if that’s the case. There are plenty of nursing specialties that offer quieter environments and more isolated tasks that are suited to introverts. Likewise, a perfect specialty exists if you’re SO much of a people person that you want to not only interact with people but go as far as to lead a team of them.
- Introverts Should Consider: Specializing in research-based roles or those that require less frequent patient interactions like Informatics Specialist, Forensics Nurse or private duty nursing.
- Extroverts Should Consider: Specializing in high-touch and patient-facing roles like Pediatrics Nurse, Medical-Surgical Nurse, Critical Care Nurse or a frontline specialty where you can embrace travel nursing.
What Pace Is Right for You?
Are you amongst the thorough and methodical nurses who find comfort in slower-paced environments, the agile and challenge-craving nurses who thrive when working in faster-paced facilities or somewhere in between? Just like running, pacing yourself in your work environment means no long-term injuries, limited straining, maximum effectiveness and, most importantly, the ability to keep going! Though achieving this will depend on both your specialty and your place of practice, there are certain complementary combinations to consider.
- If you like a Slower Pace: Becoming a Home Health Nurse in patients’ homes, an Occupational Health Nurse in companies and organizations that appeal to your personal interests or aiming for nursing research roles in colleges and universities may all be great ideas.
- If you prefer a Faster Pace: Nurses who thrive on action tend to rate hospitals by the caliber of their trauma care. If you’re a fast thinker with a cool head and yearn for an exciting work environment, look into critical care nursing in trauma centers, ER nursing in hospital emergency departments, or OR nursing (in none other than the OR)!
Where Do Your Passions Lie?
Put your best foot forward, and your best Littmann stethoscope to the bright and beautiful hearts of patients who have stolen yours. If you’ve got a respect for and feel a connection to the older generations, consider a specialization that’s geriatric-focused. If you have a soft spot for pregnant women/soon-to-be mothers and babies and believe that you could add to the wonderful moments before, during and after childbirth, then consider specializing as a Labor and Delivery Nurse!
What Job Setting Is Best for You?
Although it doesn’t take specializing to get you out of the hospital as a nurse, it can certainly open some interesting doors. Whether it be schools, correctional facilities, job sites, offices, clinics, rescue helicopters, or research centers, nurses are needed everywhere — it’s a matter of where you want to be as a nurse. Even if you do gravitate toward a hospital setting, though, you’ll want to make sure that you’re paying close attention to the specific units or departments you’re interested in as much as the hospital environment as a whole.
If you know that your favorite nursing shoes for women were meant to hit the halls of a hospital emergency unit, you may be starting to realize that you are suited for pediatrics or you can picture a lot more than one specialty that would be perfect for you. The best way to confirm or narrow it down will be by asking yourself…
How Is the Job Market Where You Want to Live and Work?
Nurses are in demand across the globe and specializing as a nurse still tends to leave you with fairly open options. That being said, it is important (ESPECIALLY if you don’t want to relocate) to ensure that the specialization you choose to pursue is currently in demand and/or is expected to be in demand in the future where you are. If you like the idea of relocating, it may be worth looking into the demand for your specialty not only in locations that you’d like to live and work, but for travel nursing roles of these types as well.
What Additional Certifications Will You Need?
You’ll likely need to upgrade your education and demonstrate relevant experience in order to specialize. Not only may this be a major undertaking depending on the area of specialization, but even once this has been completed, there may be additional requirements to meet in order to maintain your status, such as annual recertification. Though meeting and maintaining all of these requirements may well be worth it, you’ll want to look into exactly what they are, and consider if it’s a feasible and wise decision in the short-term as much as it’s worth it in the long term.
Will You Be Bound to Your Location?
You’ll want to take a good look at the licensure requirements of the state you live in, yes, but it’s a good idea to see how far this will take you as well. While you may complete your schooling and achieve your status in a specialization that allows you to practice independently, you may require physician supervision when it comes to practicing in other states, or your license may not be transferable when it comes to others. While this may genuinely never be an issue for some, it’s worth looking into even if you don’t expect to relocate anytime soon!
Is Your Specialty Going to Stay Special to You?
Your specialty will always be special to the people around you, but when you’re able to work at your perfect pace, commit yourself to an environment that you love, work with the people and patients you prefer and do the tasks that you excel at, your specialty will truly feel special to you! Admittedly, you’re going to have bad days sometimes… But by choosing the right nursing specialty for your personal specialties and preferences, it becomes easier to feel enthusiasm before, engagement and enjoyment during and fulfillment after each shift.
