Future ER nurse

[Nursechamp1]

Hello everyone,

so so just a little back story, I was a flight medic in the military for 8 years then when I got got became an LVN. Was an LVN for 5 years then decided to go back to school and got my RN. Fast forward I took my nclex and got offered a position at a hospital the following week. With my background I showed interest in a position with their emergency dept. Unfortunately the new grad program I was hired for didn't have that position available. I am currently in oncology and not to sound ungrateful for having a job, it's just not my thing. I know what I want to specialize in and where I want my career to go. I'd like some opinions on what certs I can get to become more appealing to the ED.

Side note: I've had my RN license for 6 months and have worked for 6 months on an oncology/med/tele floor

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

Acls. Pals. Some want TNCC, which is easier to take if your already working ER. I'd put in your time and look into transferring when your hospital allows you.

[Guest219794]

Talk to the folks on your local flight service (s).

More likely ICU is going to be what you are looking for

[sjalv]

Talk to the folks on your local flight service (s).

More likely ICU is going to be what you are looking for

I'm curious why you are suggesting the ICU. The OP stated his/her interest in the ER, and the ICU is nothing like the ER.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Your thread has been moved to our Emergency Nursing forum with the goal of eliciting responses from members who are actual ER nurses. Good luck to you.

[NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN]

Yeah it was probably the "flight" part. Flight nurses are critical care specialists. However, I think the OP was doing more emergency care rather than ICU style nursing.

[ReadyToListen, CNA, EMT-B]

I'm curious why you are suggesting the ICU. The OP stated his/her interest in the ER, and the ICU is nothing like the ER.

I'm resource pool....ICU is NOTHING remotely similar to ER except that sick people die :l

[AZQuik]

I'm resource pool....ICU is NOTHING remotely similar to ER except that sick people die :l

Yes but a lot of flight programs value ICU experience. Some don't. Kinda depends on their specialty. I know several flight programs around here that drool at RN's that have both.

[pedseraprn]

In my metro area in Midwest, you need acls, pals, Enpc, tncc and bls. Like you I started in onc, just bite the bullet and do your year in onc or tele and then go to icu. You need icu as you would be expected to manage drips and vents independently in the air with confidence as it is you and one other rn or medic in the air. As an ex flight medic, you should KNOW what background you need and why as it's the same for flight medics as flight rns . If you've done flight, you should already have done some of these certs or the military equivalent.

i'm going back into level one trauma in a couple of weeks and I am expected to do eighty hours of review icu.

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

Why is everyone pushing OP to ICU? They did not say they want to be a flight nurse, they said they wanted to be an ER nurse. I did ICU for 3 years, great experience, but I'm much happier in the ER.

[ArrowRN, BSN, RN]

some new grads in my class got straight into the ER as a new grad nurse knowing nothing about drips. You will learn that stuff. You don't need ICU experience. Just do the certifications keep applying. Most ER's do the required certifications in house for free, so you might be wasting you money. Find out if you can shadow in the ER or even pick up extra shifts by floating and get networking and knowing some people who can help you get in. It makes no sense being miserable in a field you don't like.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

I'm a new grad that got accepted to the ER right away. Yes, I had a pretty steep learning curve, no I did not do any ICU time. Here's what got me the position and how I managed to stay the entire year: I have a very solid understanding of pathophysiology and a reasonably good understanding of what meds are needed and when, at least by class if not by specific medication. I have a few years experience as a Paramedic and I have experience as an athletic trainer (along with Bachelors Degree). There are some things that I'm slower at than others, but I'm still relatively new as an RN and I'm still speeding up.

OP, since you're in Heme/Onc/Med-tele, do your time there and really learn the tele stuff, pursue ACLS, PALS, and perhaps TNCC. Since you were a military Medic, you should do reasonably well in TNCC. The trauma stuff you should have covered in the military should be reasonably close to TNCC. I have yet to take that course but I have taken PHTLS and ITLS (formerly BTLS) in the past and have looked at some of the stuff covered in TNCC and found a ton of overlap.

Once you've put in some time on your "home" floor, see if you can float to the ED. Otherwise start looking at applying to positions there as an internal applicant. Let your current boss know so that's not a surprise. You don't want to surprise them if at all possible. If they're supportive of you and your career, they'll be glad to see you go even though you're causing a hole in their staffing because they want to see you do well.