I want to move out of rehab

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I'm a RN with a little over a year experience. I have been employed in a physical rehab but feel like I haven't gotten any good nursing experience. I want to move out of rehab but have not been able to get a single job offer except at another rehab. Is there any additional certifications I can get (besides the ones you have to have two years experience) to further my marketability? I currently have Acls is there anything else?

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

Have you tried applying directly to an ortho unit? I worked in LTC rehab and got a really good job at a great hospital because of having ortho experience. If you have been a nurse for 2 years (I don't know if you worked anywhere else) and worked with ortho pts, you can sit for your ortho certification. Ortho is a field that is not so popular, but I LOVE it!

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I used to work on an ortho floor and they hired nurses who had previously worked rehab often! You having your ACLS already is definitely a plus!

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Maybe your attitude that 'you haven't gotten any good nursing experience' is holding you back.

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

Try to get arrythmia course done. Also, if there is an "acute" LTACH near you, a non-ICU burn unit or acute orthopedic unit, try them.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Maybe your attitude that 'you haven't gotten any good nursing experience' is holding you back.
I worked at a physical rehabilitation hospital for a little more than five years. Plenty of my coworkers left for the acute care hospital because they were able to sell themselves and the skill sets they had amassed in the rehab setting.

As a rehab nurse I performed skills such as intravenous therapy, central line management, wound vacs, continuous positive motion (CPM), nephrostomy tube management, range-of-motion exercises, Foley catheter insertions, administration of blood products, respiratory therapy, cardiopulmonary rescuscitation (CPR), ostomy care, peritoneal dialysis treatments, and medication administration. This skill set can definitely be sold to hospital recruiters.

Some potential certifications you can obtain that would look attractive to hospital recruiters would be the SCRN (stroke certified registered nurse) and the orthopedic nurse certification (ONC).

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Specializes in Rehab, pediatrics.
Maybe your attitude that 'you haven't gotten any good nursing experience' is holding you back.

This. You need to sell the experience you do have from rehab. I hardly doubt you haven't learned anything.

I was in the same position as you (almost 2yrs in rehab) and I liked rehab but just recently received a job in an ICU. One of the things interviewers are always surprised by are the skill set I have obtained and the ratios I have had... They always note that I have time management skill from my ratios. They are also shocked when they hear the things I have seen.

"Brag" about what you do and people will see what you can bring to the table.

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