RN needs advice

[Emsmamma]

After finishing nursing school, I worked for a year in home health doing pediatrics and maternal child health. I then took a year off to stay at home with my child and am now looking to return to nursing. I have applied to several hospitals and have been told that peds is a desirable area and to get my foot in the door I should start in adult med surg. and wait for a peds position to come open. Does anyone have an opinion on this? Thank you in advance!

[tweetieRN]

That might not be a bad idea, but keep your peds certifications up to date or obtain new ones such as PALS. Med surg, if you've never done it, can be an excellent way to obtain general skills, organizational abilities. Or, do these hospitals have float pools? This is an excellant way to orient to all areas, and can be a plus when you're applying for a specific job, if you can say you've already had experience in that particular department.

Good luck!

[KristiRN]

Originally posted by Emsmamma:

I have applied to several hospitals and have been told that peds is a desirable area and to get my foot in the door I should start in adult med surg. and wait for a peds position to come open. Does anyone have an opinion on this? Thank you in advance![/b]

...snip...

It would be a good idea to have med/surg experience, but this is what I did. Apply to a small hospital and make it VERY clear right from the beginning that you have some peds experience and you would LOVE to float over for orientation and then you'd be able to pick up shifts that they may need covered. Everyone I've come across is looking for people willing to float, then if a position come available you are ready to jump in. EMail me if you have any questions. Kristi