taylormjay

Hey there! I was definitely in the same exact boat as you! I knew in nursing school that I wanted to be a mother/baby nurse but it's a super competitive specialty to get into, especially right after graduation. The new grad residency spots filled up so quickly everywhere, so I figured I get some med/surg experience. I graduated in May 2020, and then I got my 1st position as a med/surg nurse in Nov 2020. I was miserable and actually switched to another med/surg floor at another hospital in April 2021. I think it helped that the floors I worked on were post-op floors and I used that to my advantage in the interview that I had with mother/baby! It took me 10+ applications until I secured my first interview (last week), and luckily I got the job! I used a really cute resume template from etsy which may have helped me get chosen for a call back, the managers kept complimenting my application and saying how much it stood out to them LOL. I also emphasized the med/surg experience that I have and the wide variety of patients I see in the clinical setting. I explained how much of an asset this can be given that more and more mothers have other health problems in addition to them giving birth these days. I also emphasized my ability to teach patients about post-op care since mother/baby is all about teaching new parents! Lastly, I think what really helped me secure this job was the fact that I chose a hospital further from the city. I kept applying for city hospitals and would not even hear anything back. All of the metro hospitals are oversaturated with applications from a ton of different people (who probably already have the experience), so maybe that lowers your chances of hearing something back? Basically, I don't think you're jumping the gun at all. You should keep applying! I was able to get hired on the mother/baby unit with only 10 months of med/surg experience! I signed up for job alerts and always had my application on standby whenever a job posting appeared! I hope this was somewhat of a help! I hope all goes well for you! Good luck!