Am I crazy to leave Postpartum for Cardiac?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

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Anyone ever left OB world to pursue a totally different area in nursing? I am currently a postpartum nurse that is looking for a little more. Dont get me wrong I like Ob and taking care of moms but I definitely feel that I was meant to be a cardiac nurse. My postpartum job is looked at by others in my hospital as a CUSHY(if thats a word)JOB. Other nurses say that all we do is pass motrins and feel fundus'. Which is not true because with comorbidity, we can get some sick people sometimes. Not to mention that we are overflow for any pt with a cooch! My problem is that any time I try to transfer out to a tele floor or DARE I... an ICU/progressive area, I get looked at by the hiring managers like I have three heads. They always say, why do you wanna leave such an easy job? They really look at me as if I'm crazy. Then ofcourse I never get the job and its because I need more experience, try a tele floor. Well how am I suppose to do that if cant even get past the interviewers gaukin' at me for leaving p.p. Any suggestions as to what to do would be helpful. Anyone else ever gone through this. BTW I do have 1yr MedSurg experience.

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Can you call the cardiac manager and talk to her about this??

I love cardiac - have done it ever since graduation and have really enjoyed it - Just keep on talking to people and see what you can find out!!

Good luck!

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absolutely not. you are not crazy, I did the same thing too. My first job out of school was LDRP, and I was one of those people who insisted that there was no area of nursing I could possibly enjoy other than that. I went to seminars while in school, i did my practicum, i even subscribed to journals! A few weeks of actually working it, i realized it just wasn't for me. I got the same treatment too - everyone told me i was soooo lucky to have that job and that ob nurses were the princessess of the nursing world, etc etc. I work cardiac/icu stepdown and i love it! I hope to work ICU soon too. The great thing about nursing is that we can move around and find what we really love. Good for you doing that too!

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Specializes in Cardiology, Oncology, Medsurge.

Give up post boredom (as we used to call it during nursing school) for killer cardiac...any day!

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Give up post boredom (as we used to call it during nursing school) for killer cardiac...any day!

:lol2: That's great...I have to use that one!!

I think it's great you want to try something else. Cardiac nursing has so many different areas you can look into and you will learn FOREVER. I'm in tele and I love it. The pace is fast, but you learn so much, not just with patients, but with technology as well.

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Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I just want to be sure I'm not making a mistake by leaving. I just want to do what makes me happiest. I like postpartum and my coworkers, but its time for a change. Im hoping that this manager that I am going to interview with doesnt ride me about the postpartum thing.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Nursery, Post-Partum.

I went the opposite way (kinda, tele to nursery to mother/baby) and I have to say there is a world of difference. I think if you are going to a tele floor like the one I came from don't do it!! My old unit was mainly geriatric patients, we mainly saw chest pain R/O MIs, new onset afib, pnuemonia, CHF, and pace-makers. Oh, and don't forget the ETOH withdrawl patients, they are always fun. And the R/O CVAs. And a large number of patients from the local nursing homes who had "altered mental status". We only did diagnostic cardiac caths, we didn't get alot of complicated stuff so there wasn't a lot of "fun" stuff or much to learn. A situation like that can get old and tiring after awhile. Especially if you're understaffed (who isn't) and you spend alot of time taking care of patients who in reality aren't tele patients, they are more like med/surg patients. But, if there's more cardiac on your potential unit and less med/surg then was on my old unit, I think you will find it a nice challenge, and something enjoyable to try. New things can be fun...but I'm happy to give up my old, confused, combative patients for my moms and babies! Good luck!

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Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.
we can get some sick people sometimes.

You know you're going back to having all sick people?

All right, I'm going to recognize that you said you had a year's experience in MS so at least you're not going in blind. I will say this though; I've met MANY nurses who left Med/Surg Tele jobs to go to Women's & Children's areas (by that I include Mom/Baby, nursery, NICU, L&D, Post-partum). I've never met one that went the other way, they run back home too quick I guess. And of all the nurses I knew who left Med/Surg Tele (to go to above mentioned areas), they never came back. I could theorize on the reasons, but I think my observations speak for themselves.

Once more though, if you enjoyed your med/surg experience enough to go there again, go on. I will almost guarantee you one thing though, don't expect a big difference between MS and Telemetry, most places they are pretty much the same with just one more annoying piece of equipment attached.

I loved being a telemetry nurse, I think I was very good at it. But I actually have bad dreams where I have been forced to go back there. I just enjoy the NICU that much more. Admittedly; you can keep those laboring women as far as I'm concerned :)

Lastly, this is one of the beauties of nursing though, you can try all these different areas pretty much as many times as you like, you will almost always be in demand. You may have to take a bad shift when you switch but in general a switch is almost always possible!

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Specializes in L&D.
Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I just want to be sure I'm not making a mistake by leaving. I just want to do what makes me happiest. I like postpartum and my coworkers, but its time for a change. Im hoping that this manager that I am going to interview with doesnt ride me about the postpartum thing.

It's never a mistake to try something new. You may or may not like cardiac, but you won't know until you try it. Even if you don't like it and return to OB, it will not have been a mistake as you will have learned lots of new skills in cardiac and learned more about yourself as well. It's a win/win situation for you. Let's all be very thankful that nursing is a profession that has room for people with a very wide range of likes.

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I'm getting ready to leave Cardiac Tele Stepdown unit to go to L&D. I did love Cardidac nursing but I'm ready for a change. I want the get em get em out kind of pt's. I was very interested in L&D during school but after rotations I changed my mind. I'm going to try L&D. :) I think I will love it. I have been reading threads for the last 2 hrs and I'm getting a good feel of what to expect.

The part of cardiac I loved was all the stuff there was too learn. I hated getting huge patients you had to bathe, clean up their poops, tube feeds etc...etc......vents also kind of got old. Most of my pts needed help to do everything because they were post open heart surgery. It's hard when you have 4 pts that need you for almost everything.

I told myself during school I would do med/surg or whatever for one year and then I was moving onto a specialty. Well it took 2 yrs for that. LOL......I got comfortable. But now I'm ready to move on. I think you will like Cardiac. It is hustle and bustle and busy!!!!!!

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I cant see why you cant make the transition. I suggest studing your dysrhythmias and medications for afib, chf, etc take acls course on your own, See if your hospital offers critical course and take it. Come to your interview with confidence as to where you want to go in nursing and state the stuff you have done to prepare your self for the transition by stating things you would be looking for and what you would do for those patient.

In my interview the asked me how they treat afib. What I look for in CHF patient and how I treat etc.........come prepared to the interview with knowledge and the door will open.

That my quick reply wish you the best

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Specializes in ICU, SDU, OR, RR, Ortho, Hospice RN.

Follow your heart and seek your dreams.

Changing jobs is how we gain our experience in nursing.

I would pursue this. Go make an appointment with the manager of Cardiac and express your desires to work in the area.

Hang in there and GOOD VIBES your way. :)

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