ICU vs. ER vs. FLOOR nursing??? How can I learn more about the hospital?

Hi my name's Skylar and I am still new to AllNurses I've been researching nursing for many months now and I'm trying to get into an August LPN program and plan to continue to get an RN right after and then BSN and MSN and so on...however there's still some things I come across that I am confused about. I am 17 and I cannot get my CNA yet because I'm not 18 But by the time I'm 18 I'll have finished Nursing Fundamentals hopefully and can take the CNA exam while ion the LPN program [if I'm lucky ]....until then...how can I get experience or learn about the hospital more? I'm very clueless about the areas and special fields of the hospital but from what I have gathered...there's ICU [intensive care unit], ER [emergency room], and Floor nursing...[med surg?] and I'm not sure exactly what that is [sorry if I sound dumb, I'm very NEW] and PICU is the pediatric form of intensive care...so are there other fields? And what makes them all different from each other?
If you follow this link: http://allnurses.com/nursing-specialties/ you'll find ample information on several nursing specialties, including but not limited to hospital nursing (ICU, ER, PICU, Med-Surg, etc.). Good luck and enjoy your reading!

Well the best to you on your new journey! You may go to a place you think you might like to work, local hospital and make an appt. with the Human Resourses Dept. and tell them what you are studying and maybe they can show you around or give you a clearer picture of each of the areas. Im sure you will do great. And if they are like the hospitals here you can rotate out after a certain amount of time. But which ever you do I wish you well ! .............Cathy

Calling the HR Dept is a good first step if you do not know anyone that works in any of the areas you are insterested in. Tell the HR dept that you are interested in shadowing a cna/pca/rn to get more familiar with their job. You might also see if there is a high school in your area that has a health careers focus. At my highschool they had programs where I would earn credit hours for visiting local hospitals.Good luck with your journey!

Wow, its great that you are so focused w/ your career plans! I don't know what would work for you but I usually try different places out & just see what "fits". That may not be your style. Good luck!

The beauty of nursing school is, you'll get to see these different areas of the hospital during your clinical rotations. I was able to have days in the ER, ICU, OR, various community settings, and med-surg. Also when you are a nurse in the hospital, you'll probably get floated to different floors on occasion. Don't worry about not knowing anything now, you soon will! And the shadowing thing isn't a bad idea either!

You may can get a job working in housekeeping, or what's called "environmental services" for the self-esteem factor, records, the cafeteria, or volunteer with the auxillary (typically comprised of geriatrics). I wonder if anyone still has candy strippers.