In the course of my OB care, I've been running into a lot of nursing students as of late. It seems like every nursing school in town is sending their students to my OB for clinicals. So I chat with said students...I tell some that I'm a nurse, while with others I say nothing about my profession. Though it usually becomes obvious in my interactions with them that I must know a little something about healthcare. I don't really mind students caring for me as I was once one myself, though if one is about to give me medication they better be able to pass my questioning without flaw. Especially since I have medication allergies.
With the exception of the hyperactive puppy and the less-than-professional midwife-in-training, both of which I encountered in December, the student experiences have been pretty positive. In fact, the last student I had--nurse midwife student--was probably one of the best I ever encountered. I never would have guessed she was a student had she not told me.
Anyhow, it's obvious what specialty the nurse midwife students want to go into.
For the other students...I can tell which ones are really interested in their OB clinical rotation--or at least open to the experience--and which ones are just there because they have to be. But I ask all what they're interested in doing when they graduate nursing school. To date, the response of all I asked has been the same: ER/trauma. Everyone wants to do ER/trauma. Of course, I'll probe a bit and see if there's other areas they are interested in, such as med-surg, L&D, OB, etc. (I never push psych unless I feel the psych vibe coming from them).
Again, it's all the same. ER/trauma or bust--nothing else exists, nothing else is a possibility. I say that's great and wish them well on the job hunt. Inside, I feel a touch of pity. With the way this job market is, few if any of them are going to end up right in the ER after graduation. Definitely not the ADN students I've encountered, not when every facility in town prefers BSNs. And those BSNs have a lot of competition for those few spots.
Better for these students and their fledgling careers if they are willing to be open to various opportunities early on and transferring to critical care later, instead of immediately taking the "ER/trauma or bust!" mentality after graduation and setting themselves up for a world of disappointment. By all means, they should pursue ER/trauma...but they also need to be realistic and remember they will be job hunting in a state where nearly 50% of new graduate nurses can't find any nursing job, let alone one in their dream specialty.
Oh well. They will figure it out on their own soon enough.
In other news, at this point in my first pregnancy, my water broke. So I go through today with somewhat baited breath and avoiding the television, lest the same movie I was watching during this point in my first pregnancy ("A View From The Top") be on. It has been playing a lot on Encore as of late. Given the plumbing issues we have to fix over the next week, it would be better if little one-to-be stayed on the inside for a bit longer.
