Making the switch from medsurg to ED...

Specialties Emergency

Published

I'm hoping that someone had some words of encouragement or some advice for me.

I attempted to to get into ED residencies as a new grad but wound up taking a med surg tele job when the ED never called me. Fast forward three years and I now have 2 years of med surge-tele and 1 year as a travel nurse doing more of the same.

Now that I have the experience, I am trying to get into an ED somewhere, but that seems to be impossible as every job I apply for wants at a minimum 1 year of ED experience.

How do I break through this barrier? I get calls back after applying but when they find out I have no ED experience I'm passed up for other applicants.

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Specializes in Med-Tele; ED; ICU.

Get a job as a floor nurse in a hospital whose ED in which you'd like to work... especially a very big, very busy one. Those usually have pretty high rates of turnover and generally will train nurses from the floor.

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.

You'll be able to find an ED that needs a warm body with a license. Just keep putting applications out.

I went from floor to the ED. The first ER worked in was crazy. I learned a ton of stuff, but man was it tough.

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Specializes in Emergency; med-surg; mat-child.

I got my position because I had Peds/Maternal experience, which I had gotten *because* I wanted to move to ED and figured it would be good to be not scared of kids/pregnant ladies.

Med-surg is a fine, fine base, but anything extra you can add on is only gravy.

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