changing paths, re entry from nurinsg home to ???

[grangevillewife]

I have only worked at nursing homes, do not have any " advanced" credentials. taking the course from IALN. moving

from very rural area to boise area, so can increase my knowledge base. any suggestions.

[Neats, BSN]

I too am a new graduate nurse with approximately one year nursing experience on a sub-acute unit. I do not have any other nursing experience. I am also a nursing home administrator. I took a job in a rual hospital to gain experience as a ED nurse and here is why:

You need acute care experience as a nurse. I quickly found out the intense bias of geriatric nurse as compare to "other nurses" and although I do not agree with bias it is what it is. I perform many duties as a RN as my counterparts in the med/surg arena. Exceptions are Foley Cath, IV's, and daily lab value comparisons (I am not saying we do not do this in geriatrics, just not as intense as on a med/surg unit).

My advice to you is to follow the lab tech around to get experience with draws, volunteer to do the cath insertion and when you have lab results really look at them to get a picture of what is going on. Join a local volunteer group to assist the medical community with flu shots where you can network with other nurses and try to get a per diem or job in a hospital. Have your staff development nurse document your skills so when you do get an interview you can produce what you have been doing to keep your skills current.

I know it is tough and so very sad to say that geriatric nurses are viewed as "less than" I do know alot of very good geriatric nurses and some that need to improve their nursing skills, just the same can be applied to any nursing profession. The ones to blame are ourselves as nurses traditionally have not been so good at promoting their own proofession in a mannar that is, well, cohesive. We have traveled a long way and will continue to evolve our porfession hopefull into a even more respected career field.