Changing Nursing Specialities

[meownur]

Hi everyone,

I would like your input on changing nursing specialities. I will be a new grad and I am afraid I will not get into the specialty I want right away. So.. my question is.. how hard is it to change specialities when you decide the time is right ? All the experienced RN positions I come across state a certain amount of experience in THAT specialty is required.

For example, how can an adult med/surg nurse with 1-2 yrs experience move to ICU/ ER/Peds without having experience in those specialty areas?

Thanks!

[ChellyFutureNP]

Hi everyone,

I would like your input on changing nursing specialities. I will be a new grad and I am afraid I will not get into the specialty I want right away. So.. my question is.. how hard is it to change specialities when you decide the time is right ? All the experienced RN positions I come across state a certain amount of experience in THAT specialty is required.

For example, how can an adult med/surg nurse with 1-2 yrs experience move to ICU/ ER/Peds without having experience in those specialty areas?

Thanks!

Once u are ready to transfer, u have to find an available job in your desired specialty that would allow RNs with no experience to apply. Some hospitals have ICU or ER nursing residency programs for those that are willing to stay in that specialty for at least 2 years.

[j0yegan]

Get any job that will get you any experience. When you see a job opening in the specialty you like, tell them the experience you have gained in other areas and tell them your passion wanting to work in that specialty and how much you are willing to work to learn more in that specialty. Sell yourself. And apply even if they want experience in that particular area. You never know. It's worth a shot!

[RNperdiem, RN]

What helped me was the changing job market. When I started in med-surg as a new grad, we were happy just to get a job when jobs were hard to get.

I was lucky to apply to ICU at a time when nursing was going through one of periods of nurse shortage. The manager used to only hire experienced ICU nurses.

By the time I applied, she had widened her search to give a chance to experienced med-surg nurses looking for a transfer.

A few years later, a new grad training program had been started and new grads were given a chance at ICU. By the mid 2000s there were ads in the paper looking for nurses, sign-on bonuses and lots of recruitment.

My unit still does hire a mix of experienced ICU nurses, med-surg and new grads.

[SierraBravo]

In my experience, there are those nurses that know they want to be an OB, Psych, or OR nurse all of their lives. And that is great. The not so great thing about those areas of nursing is that is is often very difficult to transfer from there to something like med/surg or ICU. Of course, it also depends on the hospital you work at, etc... Too many variables to account for. But, since you're a new grad, probably concerning yourself with finding the right first job is more important at this point.