Hi,I'm an RN with 7 years experience. Did the typical 2yrs MedSurg before moving on to nephrology nursing (specifically hemodialysis) which I did for 5 yrs. I recently resigned from the dialysis unit and took the first available position offered to me by the only hospital within 40 miles of my home...MedSurg...again. Now I've been there a couple of months and we have good staffing ratios, great doctors, manageable management...BUT, I know in my heart that I don't care for medsurg. I'm a specialty kinda gal but now I may be stuck for a while!I live in a rural area and the small hospital rarely train in some specialty areas; basically ICU, step down,and ER, but they do it VERY rarely, and there's a line of MS nurses waiting their 'turn' (Seriously, one gal broke down the waiting list for ER preceptorship, and it's 5 nurses long!) Other specialties like OR, PACU, and FBU flat out don't train. Any one else ever been in this situation? Any other avenues for small town specialties?Thanks, momo 0 Likes
May 18, 2007 by Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN I live in a small town and we cross-train all the nurses who want to be cross-trained (some refuse). I do med/surg, ER, OB, OR. We need nurses too! steph 0 Likes
May 18, 2007 by mo-mo mo-mo specializes in dialysis, m/s. My family really wants to stay where we are, and other than the job situation, I like it here, too.I've thought about commuting to the next closest hospital, getting a job in ER or ICU for 6-12 mo, then going back to the hospital I'm at now when a position opens up...Is it unethical to do that and 'skip line'? 0 Likes
May 18, 2007 by mo-mo mo-mo specializes in dialysis, m/s. Steph, I LOVE that your hospital does that. The reasoning they don't here is that because its 'too small and the trainee wouldn't get the necessary experience'. Seems bogus to me. 0 Likes
May 18, 2007 by HM2VikingRN, RN Is there any way to "add value" so you can get to ER? EMT??Just brainstormiing... 0 Likes
May 18, 2007 by joannep joannep specializes in Community, Renal, OR. What about home health nursing? 0 Likes
May 18, 2007 by Lisa CCU RN, RN Lisa CCU RN specializes in Geriatrics, Cardiac, ICU. What is FBU? 0 Likes
May 18, 2007 by Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN Steph, I LOVE that your hospital does that. The reasoning they don't here is that because its 'too small and the trainee wouldn't get the necessary experience'. Seems bogus to me.That is funny . . . . . how small is your hospital? steph 0 Likes
May 21, 2007 by mo-mo mo-mo specializes in dialysis, m/s. Is there any way to "add value" so you can get to ER? EMT??Just brainstormiing...That is a GREAT idea! I'm definitely gonna look into this...Mahalo 0 Likes
May 21, 2007 by mo-mo mo-mo specializes in dialysis, m/s. Bribery...I think you need MONEY for that! Or favors I'm not willing to dole out! FBU=Family Birthing Unit (The staff there has mad skills, I actually had the 'honor' of floating there to do postpartum care a wk ago and the two nurses there had a combined experience of 32yrs, one having been a lay midwife for many yrs and now getting her CNM in the near future. Mind you this is the typical night shift crew!)Home health: It doesn't really appeal to me. But I should check it out...Steph, our hospital has about 5 ER 'beds', 4 ICU beds, 3 stepdown rooms, and maybe 20-24 med surg beds, (postpartum usually utilizes a couple of those). I think FBU has 5 rooms of their own.Update; Rumor has it that there may be a cardiac cath lab in the future. Hmmm, time to start kissing up to the cardiologists! 0 Likes
