Transitioning into Medical Sales from nursing...how difficult have you found it to be

[SusanBlanton]

Being an RN for 23 years has afforded me some wonderful learning and growing opportunities. I have been successful in many different nursing arenas from LTC to CCU, OR, homecare, clinical research...and the list goes on and on. With that being said, I feel as though I am at a critical crossroad in regards to my life direction. I have been in medical sales off and on for almost 15 years. Some years back, I retired my nursing degree to pursue the opportunity to be a business owner and have had great success. Very exciting, right? Not so much. I was sure that I could quickly find other nurses in my area that would jump at the opportunity to be "self employed" but to my disappointment, the situation has been the exact opposite, or, the nurses that do take that opportunity have a very difficult time transitioning from nurse to salesperson. I continue to believe that we, as nurses, with our vast experiences within the health care field, are the perfect and logical choice for most medical sales products and services. I would love any input as to this seemingly difficult transition for nurses into sales. My goal is to better understand the difficulties so that I may better understand and support my current reps and future reps.

[pfchang]

What type of business do you own? I would need more info to offer opinions.

[LJ85, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN]

When you use the term "medical sales".. I am not exactly sure what you mean...equipment like DME or..?

[awkwardninja]

I am interested in working in sales, however, I am not willing to stop working at the bedside yet. Are there part-time sales opportunities that exist that would allow me to continue working 3 days a week at the hospital?