Switching Specialties

The only way to become a specialist is to get hired by someone who is willing to train you from scratch. These days most hospitals don't have IV teams anymore just for starting PIV's. What they do have is IV access teams that put in PICC lines, IV's do assessments, dg changes, etc. EVen if you're good at iv's learning the technique for putting in PICCs is a whole new skill set. What a lot of nurses do is go and get PICC certified, and then they get frustrated because they can't get precepted working independently. And you have to be careful right now because a lot of hospitals are eliminating or downsizing their PICC teams. So if you can get someone to hire you as a newbie and is willing to work with you, THEN get PICC certified, and you can train on the job.