Career Advice and Plan

[Astock]

I am a GN nurse (I will find out wednesday at 8:00am if I am a RN, BSN) from Abilene, TX

I worked on a Cardiac Step down unit/CICU for the last year as a PCT, and been hired on as a RN. We have both the step down unit, and a six bed Cardiac ICU (mostly post cath's, etc).

My orginal plan was to move to Houston, TX and work at Texas Children's Hospital starting on a general pedi floor and moving to the Pedi ER. Things did not work out, and I had to stay in Abilene, TX to get more experience.

One of my career goals is to become a Family NP (start in 5 years).

This is my current plan. I will work on my Cardiac Step down unit (we have a whole lot of overflow of med-surg patients) for the next 2 years. In about 8 months I want to get cross trained on the Pedi floor at my hospital. I will work on both floors (one week cardiac other pedi something like that). I'm planning on getting my ACLS in the next 4 months, and my PALS before I get crosstrained. I am leading a children sunday school class for austic kids. At around 2 years from now I will move to a Pedi ER in Houston.

Is this a good career path/plan for me? I think my floors will give me a lot of good experiences for my FNP.

People are telling me I should get my Adult CCRN. Would this just be a waste of my time in the big picture?

Should I get my Pedi CCRN?

Thanks for any advice!

Anthony

[guest64485]

I think you should focus on getting acclimated to nursing first before you decide on cross training and FNP. Getting ACLS and PALS is always a good idea, so go for that right away. While a lot of people would disagree with me, I would recommend getting those ASAP, because at least for me, my school did not teach what to do in emergencies, and getting these certifications helped me immensely to feel more comfortable in emergency situations.

The first year of nursing is very tough to get through and you may change your ideas on what your goals are. Having the PCT experience helps, but nursing is still likely to be more of a challenge than you might think. Focus on getting through the first year before even thinking about getting cross trained. A lot of the area-specific certs require 1-2 years of working on the floor first before you can even apply to take the test.

I'm a little surprised to hear that they are giving you an option to cross train in peds and work both floors. Are you sure they offer this?

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I spoke with the Pedi nurse manager, and he stated that after 6 months I can look into cross training. I also spoke with Human Resources, and they said the same thing.

Thank you so much for the input. Both good, bad, and sharp I want!