Preparing to apply to medsurg/ER positions

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Hello,

I recently graduated from an associate RN program in May 2014.

I landed my first Staff RN job in December 2014 in a psychiatric inpatient facility. I enjoy working with this population, but I think i speak for many of us when i say "i just want to feel like a real nurse." lol no but seriously I dream of working in the emergency unit, or a med surg floor.

I am currently enrolled in a BSN program and expect to graduate May 2016.

I am in the process of preparing to start applying for jobs (such as reviewing my NCLEX prep books, as i heard my friends who recently landed ER/Med SUrg jobs were given many acute emergency scenarios in which they needed to know what to do). I was wondering what other suggestions do you guys have in order for me to be better prepared for my hopeful upcoming interviews :-) such as; should i get other certifications besides BLS/ACLS? or any other tips you guys have will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for any input! Have a bless day! :-)

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

If you're focusing on an ED job, it would be a better idea to study ENA (Emergency Nurses Association) curriculum. In fact, you don't have to actually have any ED experience to take the ENA certification exam - but at least 1 year in ED is recommended. Honestly, there's just no way you're going to come across as an experienced nurse but you could master things like ESI (Triage) algorithms and ACLS/ATLS. It would be better to market yourself as a self-starter (already taking formal steps to prepare for the specialty), intelligent and willing to commit.

Good luck to you!

[NurseyNursington]

I'm not trying to crush your spirit here, but you should really consider Med/Surg first before ED. You've only been a nurse since late 2014 and from what I'm reading you don't have any floor nursing experience. Coming into floor nursing in the ED is not really the way to go. My hospital has a bad habit of hiring new grads with no experience to the ED, and they last maybe 6 months before the experienced nurses stage a coup and have them transferred.

ED is not the place to start and I've seen many a new nurses question their choice of careers just because they bit off more than they could chew and feel like they made a mistake. Med/Surg floors will give you solid experience with just being a nurse, which is really important at this point. I originally wanted to be in the ED, and now that I look back there is no way I would have hacked it as a new nurse there. On Med/Surg you'll learn basic patient care, how to deal in the environment and what being a nurse is all about. As my preceptor used to say: "you're not ready for another floor until you've led a code blue twice without hand holding." She's right, and I'm glad Med/Surg was where I started.