Changing nursing specialties

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Specializes in Cardiac, Perioperative care, research.

Hello,

I am a UK educated nurse working in Ontario for the last 6 years. I have 13 years post registration experience. I worked on a medical/surgical ward for the first 2 years then PACU for 4 years then became a research nurse for the last 7 years. As a clinical research nurse I worked in PACU, ICU and oncology pain management. I worked on studies by overseeing the day-to-day management of several studies, recruiting patients and administering any nursing care relevant to the studies.

I am currently in between jobs because the company funding my last project pulled out. It is like that in research where most jobs are contract work and salary is dependent on funding. I have decided that I would like to work in mental health. Acute or community. Maybe addiction?

I am not sure how to go about changing to a specialty I have no experience in. Along with my BSN, I do have a masters degree in psychology and an undergraduate degree in health and social care. While I am home not working I have been doing an online nursing certificate course in mental health nursing. All the mental health nursing jobs seem to require experience in the field.

Can anyone offer me any advise or tips? Has anyone switched careers from med/surge to mental health nursing?

thanks in advance

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Specializes in Long-term Care/Acute Medicine.

Even the jobs that state they are looking for someone experienced, I would still apply to. I went on a blitz of applying to different jobs/units and managed to land a job in an area that I have no prior experience in. If you are applying to mental health positions in hospitals, most hospital corporations have orientation sessions that will prep you for whatever unit you will be working on.

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Well you’ve already proved that you can adapt to new environments having gained work experience in the UK and ON, as well as different departments. I don’t think you will have too much trouble getting a job in mental health as it’s not a desirable destination for many nurses. It’s like marmite- you either love it or hate it ;). I don’t agree with this at all because I really enjoyed my clinical experience in that setting. If anything, they may look at you as being overqualified with your degrees and work experience. I always think that when changing fields, you should focus on what mental health experience you’ve gained in your work. Have you cared for patients with mental health issues? The answer will be yes because MH is everywhere. I’d focus more on that when applying. I think you have a great knowledge of psychology and social work, two of the biggest factors surrounding management of mental health placements. Plus you’re doing the certificate which shows interest.

‘Good luck!

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Specializes in Cardiac, Perioperative care, research.

Thank you all for the replies. They have been very helpful. I started sending out applications yesterday.

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