Want to leave Psych nursing but so far, no success, should I just give up?

U.S.A. New York

Published

A little info about me, I have worked as a nurse in psychiatry for about 4 years. Yet for some reason the hospital I currently work in denied my transfer applications 3 times so far (I applied every year) I currently applied to Elmhurst to work in the ER a few times already throughout my 4 years of nursing, yet I never get a response from the hospital. I tried applying to other hospitals that accept new graduates (because a manager once said that from my experience they would consider me a new graduate) yet so far no success. I don't know if maybe I should just give up and continue in the field I dislike being in. sorry for my endless rant, but I just wish a hospital somewhere would give me a chance and work in the ER (or anywhere in the medical unit for that matter). Therefore, I have a few questions.

1. has anyone applied to elmhurst hospital (I heard they accept new graduates and psych nurses there) is there anyone that can tell me what I can do to receive a call from them or even an email?

2. I joined the emergency nurses association, to prove that I am very interested in being an ER nurse, is there anything else I can do to add to my resume to show managers that psychiatric nursing shouldn't be a "red flag" for them?

3. I need words of encouragement, is there anyone out there who only had psych nursing and succeeded in leaving psych nursing to ER or any other medical unit?

Sour Lemon

5,016 Posts

I worked in med surg, then med surg for psych patients, then just psych ...but they float me to medical units 19 times out of 20.

So, I would suggest that you look for a medical unit that deals with the pysch population or express an interest in cross-training instead of outright transferring ...even filling in as a task nurse or working as a sitter will help you network and give you a chance to practice skills that your license allows. I'd also suggest that you put ER on the back burner for now and try for med/surg.

If moving is something you're open to, that would probably speed the process up, too.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN

4,530 Posts

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

North Dakota.

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