erm1105

I am an RN with 3 years experience working in psych. When I first got my license, every hospital went into a hiring freeze due to the economy, and I was lucky to get the job I found. Now that the hiring freezes are lifting, I am having a slightly more difficult problem. There are few, if any, positions available for psych nurses, and almost every med-surg, ER, OR, doctors office, L&D, community health, etc position I can find requires experience or training I don't have (my job did not offer employees training like ACLS, PALS, or any sort of certifications). I have applied for the ones that just "prefer" experience, but to no avail. I did do some work in a nursing home for a few months, but that was a horrible experience. The only idea, other than just continuing to apply for these positions and/or waiting for a psych position to open up, that I have had is to move somewhere where they are desperate for nurses and work med-surg there for awhile. (Which is unappealing partly because all of my family and friends are here.) Any suggestions/ideas how to make myself more attractive to potential employers? I have a BSN, I can speak (some) Spanish, and I had some experience in education. I can do the work, I just can't convince anyone to hire me!