Still New...looking to switch specialities. ADVICE!?!??

Nurses Job Hunt

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Specializes in Emergency.

I am coming up on a year at my first job which I am incredibly happy in and was so lucky to find. It's on a direct observation telemetry floor and has been a great place to learn how to be a nurse and focus on time management but I've always had two goals with my career.

1. ER. I took an EMT-B class long before nursing school and that cemented the fact that I wanted my nursing career to be in the ED. I knew that it would be difficult to start in the ER fresh out of school and was okay starting and learning somewhere else. I actually love the floor I'm on now, I like my coworkers, my managers are nice and reasonable and have been very supportive in helping me start my career.

2. Travel Nursing. I always wanted to be a travel nurse which is why I'm thinking about switching to the ED sooner rather than later. I want to get a solid two years in the ED before starting my travel career but I also don't want to wait forever. If I could go tomorrow I would.

Like I said, I love my job and I know how lucky I was to get on a supportive floor at a great hospital right off the bat so I obviously have some guilt about leaving after only a year. There's also the small fact that it is a tiny bit terrifying. I'm finally in a place where I go into to work and I know what I'm doing 97% of the time, and if I don't know, I know who to ask. The ER is an entirely different beast and I would basically be starting from scratch...while working on my BSN.

This is all very presumptive that I can even get a job in a ED. Sadly there are rarely any openings in my current hospital system and my second choice has a very high turnover rate because it's so busy and a lot of the people end up moving to the floor.

Basically it's all very nerve-wracking and I keep bouncing back and forth and what to do. I'm very comfortable and content at my job now but at the same time I don't think at 26 I should be okay with just being content.

HELP! ANY ADVICE IS APPRECIATED!

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Stay on your current supportive floor til you get your BSN, then apply to the ER. Meanwhile, if you dont have ACLS, get that. Also, look and see if your hospitals allows floor nurses to go down to the ER to take care of patients boarding in the ER. See if you can shadow a few shifts in the ER too.

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Specializes in Emergency.

I already have my ACLS, it was required on my floor. I'm going to talk to my CRC and see if she has any advice. I'm also trying to find time to get PALS since most of the ER's around here require it within so many months.

Do you think it would be to much to switch while I'm in school?? I'm starting in August and it's a fairly easy program that is 100% online that I can do in 3-10 semesters, I'm looking at doing it in 4. I know it would be a big change and a lot to learn

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Specializes in Dialysis.

I wouldnt advise switching jobs while starting school. If there's a big learning curve with job, it may affect your grades. That may not seem like a big issue, but down the road you may want to pursue higher education where a GPA means everything

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