Hi soon-to-be new grad here and am wondering what it will take to get into PACU asap? I know most people suggest new grads to get their feet wet in Med-surg, but I really like surgery and eventually want to work in Plastic surgery- figure PACU is the best place to get my feet wet for my future purposes. Thoughts? Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you :-)

Knowing nothing about your pre nursing work experience......a new grad with no hospital, CNA, acute care experience, would be very lucky to get a job in surgery/OR/PACU, (or even any acute care hospital unit the way the job market is today!)

However there are more and more out patient surgery/GI centers which may be hiring new grads? Just apply for them.

I got where I am today because I was willing to float. We didn't have an official float pool on the night shift. But I always volunteered to float from my med/surg unit. I floated enough to ICU to feel comfortable transferring there, eventually into PACU.

At my current out patient surgery/GI job I was willing to float to do GI sedation and then was asked to to sedation for minor surgery cases, which could easily transfer to working for a plastic surgeon if I really wanted that.

So that is my career path. My willingness to float from my new grad job in med/surg unit opened up hundreds of doors for me.

Wow @brownbook that's great advice. I don't think I ever realized new grads could float- kind of thought that was more for experienced nurses also, but it makes sense now. Also, should have mentioned in my first post that I do have experience as a telemetry monitor tech (almost 5 years) and am hoping that will count as something. I actually had to pick up one of our monitors today from our OR and got to chat with a nurse there and she said she started in the OR and never left, I guess its certainly not impossible! :-D and never really thought about outpatient centers either. Thanks again- its all very helpful!

Yeah, "floating" is a big area of contention with nurses. Most nurses hate to float, most will say a new grad should never float, most will say, "I would never want my family member to be taken care of by a float nurse", etc. Put floating in the search box and you will read a lot about floating, most of it very negative.

Chatting with OR nurses is a great way to get your foot in the door. An OR nurse I know got into OR via being a GI nurse, many GI clinics are part of surgery centers. She knew she wanted OR and just kept "bugging" the OR charge nurses about giving her a chance.

I currently work in a PACU at a large level 1 trauma center in Texas. I had nursing experience prior working on a trauma surgery floor in downtown detroit and some travel experience. At my facility, they do offer a nurse intern program for graduate nurses in the PACU and if you do well enough, can transition directly into a full time position. Maybe this is something you could look into? I will say that these few nurse interns transitioned to full time RNs in PACU seem to struggle. I do think it is very important to have a good foundation before entering this type of position because the phase of care is so fast, that you really don't get the learning experiences you would on a med/surg or straight up surgical unit. I think you will thank yourself later for taking the time to get that year of med/surg under your belt. It will definitely make the transition easier and you will be suprised how much knowledge you will gain in that time.

If you're hell bent on going straight to PACU though, look for graduate nurse or nurse intern positions. Good luck!

I just started nursing school, so I'm unfamiliar with nursing culture in the real world. Why is floating an "area of contention" and what's the cause of the negative attitudes about it?

I started as a new grad in PACU. I love it and the schedule works so well for me. I plan on sticking with this specialty for a long long time :)