clinic to er nursing?

[hawksrn2014]

I'm a new grad and I currently work in a pediatric clinic. My ultimate goal is to end up in the ER. I loved all my clinicals there and did my focused practicum there. My question is, how hard will it be for me to transfer from a clinic to the ER? Has anyone out there done this successfully? I plan on staying for at least a year in my current position before I start looking for ER jobs. I already have my ACLS, but I'm waiting on my PALS and TNCC until I have a job that they will be needed. Any advice from those that have done this?

[RunBabyRN]

Any particular reason you're waiting a year to even apply? Look for new grad positions now! :) It'll probably be easier to get into one of these now instead of when you're an "old new grad", even with outpatient experience.

[libran1984, ASN, RN]

When I was an LPN working in a correctional clinic, I hyped up the chest pains, the suicidal pts, and gave a few examples of how i reacted in an emergency situation such as overdose and "the unexpected pt" - which turned out to be a correctional officer rather than an offender. Turned out, unbeknownst to me, that I had just perfectly described the ER while describing my clinic.

This led to a highly coveted LPN position (just 6 mos out of school) in a local ER and then eventually an RN position in the busiest ER in my area!!

One of my colleagues recently moved from a clinic into the ED. It was mostly about demonstrating that she had the fundamentals down and that she was (a) flexible, and (b) a hard worker.

Since you did your practicum in the ED, that should help you if you get an interview as you should have a good sense of what's invovled.

I would not hesitate on PALS or TNCC. I would get those now, along with ENPC, and plan to earn your CEN as soon as possible (no experience required, just a test).

Consider signing up with a temp agency; most of the local EDs here hire travelers on and off.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Traveler in the er who has no er experience? Don't see that happening.

Traveler in the er who has no er experience? Don't see that happening.

It does happen. We have travelers with no ER experience who are assigned psych holds and admitted pts waiting on beds. Over time, they're sometimes given the chance to take an assignment in our lower acuity area.