Any Poison Control Specialists Out there???

[SnowybirdRN]

I know it's a niche market, but any Poison Control Nurses out there who would share some info on the training, day to day role, schedules, opportunity for advancement?

Thanks in Advance!

If you have info by proxy, please share that too!

[monkeybug]

I haven't worked Poison Control since becoming an RN, but did work there as a nursing student. I took calls just as the RN did, but worked under their supervision. It was an interesting job, but not much room for advancement for the nurse that I could see. We sat and answered phone calls. There was a nursing supervisor, so I suppose there was that option for advancement. It could get incredibly tedious. On rare occasions some member of the public would show up with a creepy crawling critter for us to identify (no thanks, I'm not a wildlife specialist) to break the monotony. But tedium can be nice sometimes. I think it would be the perfect job for someone who couldn't handle the physical demands of bedside nursing. It's a 24 hour place, just like the hospital, so there was the potential for night shift.

[SnowybirdRN]

Thank you so much Monkeybug!

Did the nurses like it, had they been there a long time? Could they work remotely? And did they discuss the training?

Thanks again. you may be my only responder, as there are not many CSPI's out there!

[monkeybug]

The nurses did seem to like it. I don't know about their training. They had a computer program they used to simplify the job. Type in the product consumed and up popped all the information you needed. Very straightforward.