HELP!!! I'm a med-surg/tele nurse who wants to get into maternity nursing.

Guest321574 · Jul 23, 2012

Try expressing your interest to managers directly, not just HR. Usually HR ends up as a hindrance as they have so many apps to sift through. Though you will eventually have to go through HR, the manager can get the process started if she is interested.

leila83 · Jul 25, 2012

I think that's a good idea but I'm kinda scared to talk to managers.

Guest321574 · Jul 26, 2012

I hear ya, me too! If you can find an email address, you can send your resume/interest letter that way. Or if you just have a name, sometimes you can puzzle out the email address, just by looking at the way other people in the organization have theirs styled.

If you don't have a name, you can also just mail your resume and cover letter addressed directly to:

Nurse Manager, L&D,

City Hospital,

City, State, Zip.

This has worked for me in the past, though not for an L&D job. Sending it priority mail, flat rate envelope, is an attention getter. The $5 isn't cheap so I reserved this for jobs I was REALLY interested in :)

MommyandRN · Jul 30, 2012

I feel your pain. I have over 10 years of impressive adult experience, yet have been wanting to be in NICU for the past 5 years. I would love to to L&D or Mother/Baby too. It seems that new grads are hired in, or only RNs with experience in that area. For RNs with other experience, it seems I am out of luck. There are plenty of jobs I could be hired for no problem, but the ones I actually want I can't have. It's frustrating.

leila83 · Sep 14, 2012

[COLOR=#003366]MommyandRN I feel ur pain...I was told by a nursing recruiter to apply for a med-surg position at a hospital then tranfer over to mother-baby bc they r willing to cross train present employee. I said no because what if they dont pick me.

DebblesRN, ASN, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2012

Hello!!

I worked Med-Surg Telemetry for 2 years before I started in L&D/NICU/PostPartum/Newborn Nursery. I put in applications and resumes, I talked to nurses who worked in the department, I tried to get some certifications to make myself more desireable in that department. NOTHING worked except speaking directly to the Nurse Manager.

I would try to get over my fear of speaking to the Nurse manager if you are really interested in working in that department and setting up an appointment with her. Good luck to you!! :)

MKPRN · Sep 15, 2012

This is an exact situation that isn't always about what you know but WHO you know. Definately talk to the managers! They are the ones that are going to scoot your application past HR. Also talk to the staff in those departments, make friends. When something comes open they will not only tell you but mention to their managers that they know someone who is interested. This is probably how the majority of the people in my department are hired.

Another suggestion, take some OB continuing education courses so if you do get that interview you can show the manager that you do come to the table with some knowledge. Things that we are certified in at my hospital are ACLS, NRP and STABLE. They are also now requiring labor nurses to become certified in fetal monitoring. PESI.com and Proedcenter.com have great OB education courses but there are also others out there on the internet. AWHONN books are great reads too.

SwimNurseRun · Sep 16, 2012

This is ironic for me because i am a 2 year tele nurse who just applied to an L&D position, and had the same fears! Even though i was very nervous to talk to my boss about it, my family assured me it was the ethical thing to do when applying for jobs. I couldn't have been happier that I did because my boss was more than supportive! Of course they will be sad to see you go, but a good boss understands this is part of the job and should be happy that they are helping their staff develop their careers! He offered to call their unit director directly and that will definitely give me a big edge i did not have before.

guamba · Sep 17, 2012

You need to get un-scared to talk to managers. Part of the reason I have a job as a labor nurse is because one day, after being denied and really lied to by HR, I printed my resume, put on my interview clothes, marched down to the office of the labor and delivery manager, knocked on her door and asked her to interview me-point blank, on the spot. She did, and hired me that day.

I don't know about your area, but where I live, we have Perinatal Academies where nurses learn how to be a l@d RN both didactically in the classroom and on the floor simultaneously. We only hire internally so nurses in house that work on other floors and nurses who have their RN license but are working as clinical assistants.

I'd advise you to take a chance!!!!! If you don't, you'll never get the job or at least never get the chance to say you did all you could.