Changing specialities?

Argo · Jul 10, 2015

I got 2 days orientation at my current job and started working weekends immediately without support. That's virtually impossible to do successfully without a well rounded background(more than a couple years at various places) in any level 1 or even level 2 facility.

canigraduate · Jul 11, 2015

Basically, I have the same advice as everyone else.

If you want to do Med-Surg, then you need to get a Med-Surg job.

When I travelled, I received a whopping 2 days of orientation (which I am grateful for, no sarcasm, as agency I get much less) and a 4 hour computer charting class.

You have to be able to work your unit with a minimum of oversight.

vanurse1022, BSN · Jul 16, 2015

I'm a med-surg travel nurse, and wanted to get some ER experience. So while I was on assignment, I spent some time (of my own, not paid) orienting in the ER. It was a lot of work, but was worth it to open up more opportunities in the future! You can talk with the nursing supervisor or manager at your facility and ask them to connect you with managers in other departments to set something up.

Anna S, RN · Jul 19, 2015

I have traveled and gotten no orientation at all, charge of the unit within an hour of arriving on my first day.

No agency/hospital will pay to cross-train.

fsuao2006 · Jul 19, 2015

I recently heard from a recruiter that for insurance purposes they CANNOT put a nurse on a floor that they've had less than 1 year of experience on.

NedRN · Jul 19, 2015

Insurance policies I've seen do not specify level of experience. And new grads have to learn!

Therhapsody89 · Sep 15, 2015

Thank you all for the informative comments! I am finishing up my first psych travel job and will be beginning my second traveling job in a med-surg float pool. With enough references of the time I have spent floating to different medical floors, I received a job offer! So it is not completely impossible if you've actually done the work. Thanks again!

NedRN · Sep 15, 2015

Congratulations! I'm a big written reference guy, but I didn't think of that pathway of floating and getting references to get a travel job in medsurg. I suspect the confidence you projected to interviewing managers played a large role here.

Recently, I helped create a psych skills checklist and one of the items was "float to medsurg". Checking proficient tells a manager that you have a full set of medsurg skills and are comfortable in that role (also avoids contaminating a psych skills checklist with a bunch of medsurg skills items - a lot of regular agency psych skills checklists are basically doubled with a full medsurg list of items).

I hope your assignment works out well for you!

Therhapsody89 · Dec 4, 2015

NedRN, thank you. This current assignment is 5 weeks from ending at a Level 1 trauma hospital, floating on 7 different floors, ranging from med surg, transplant, trauma, ortho, cardiac, neurology, and nephrology. I don't think 5 years of experience would prepare somebody for this job haha but being very adaptable, good in emergencies, and doing alot of reading on days off has helped. And never being afraid to ask for help if you are unsure about something!!! There were some meds and scenarios I was unfamiliar with and wanted to become more knowledgable. It would be a job I wouldn't have been able to do without the serious prior cross training. I'm excited to see where this new adventure takes me.

NedRN · Dec 4, 2015

Good for you taking the initiative for learning on your days off. Clearly you are doing well.

Dassit82 · Aug 22, 2017

I always ask the forums here before I start discussing things with my recruiter. I've been traveling as a PICU nurse for a year now. I have 3 years peds icu burns and 1 year general icu with some cvicu experience. I was thinking of making the transition to Adult ICU. Should I take a FTE position somewhere to get experience, thinking with only peds icu would make it impossible to get a travel position in adults? I met a fellow traveler who worked adult CV, no peds experience and was hired onto a peds CV unit, though that was FTE status, not traveler. Any info would be great! Thanks!

NedRN · Aug 22, 2017

So you have only experience with parrots and now you want to work with cats? Completely different species and wildly different dx and tx. You will have to find a cat hospital willing to train you and commit to a couple years of staff. That said, your experience with exotic species will be helpful in this transition.