Taking job in area you don't know about

[BirkieGirl]

i recently returned to bedside nursing after almost 20 years in outpatient long-term management of cardiology patients. I loved the job itself but it was time for a change. I was really burning out and was in a position where I was being held down and held back from progressing my career. I also am pursuing a graduate degree and had little/no flexibility in that position. I have changed up my graduate plan a bit since then and so that's really no longer an issue.

Now I am in a new corporation and after 4 months at the bedside I am growing very comfortable with my job and really like it! Just because I am always planning ahead, I look at the postings occasionally to see what type of jobs are happening that may apply to me as I only have about 10 months left until my MSN. Right now there are multiple listings for management support type positions. Not mgt directly though, more like staff development specific to the area-light education, tracking CEUs, staff meetings, etc. I would love one of them- they are daytime and would bring my family a little more regularity than the night thing i'm doing- however, they are each on a clinical area I have never really worked in.

Should I even consider going into a floor (where I have no actual experience) into a job like that? I don't want to go and then tank! Since I have been a RN 19 years though, I obviously have a LOT of overall experience!

I am going to be meeting with the person in MY area that does the job there to see if I would have any sort of standing, but I think I will probably go for it!

thoughts??

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Are you pursuing an MSN in education? If not, you may need to fill in some knowledge gaps prior to accepting a staff development job. Education is a 'whole 'nother' discipline... with it's own skill set. There are a plethora of rules & regs surrounding employee education. It's not just the 'laundry list' of mandated regulatory requirements. Even accidental violation of legal standards (such as FLSA) can result in personal & organizational liability claims. If this is not included in your MSN curriculum, you may want to utilize ANPD resources to get up to speed.

I would also caution you about the instability of staff development / education jobs. They tend to mysteriously 'disappear' whenever labor costs need to be cut. Prevalent opinion of financial decision-makers = "It's such an easy thing to do - managers can do it. There's no need for educators" .