Transitioning from Psych to ICU/Med Surg

[indnur87]

Hi,

I am working in geriatric behavioral health unit in the hospital setting now. I am started applying for med surgical jobs. My application was not even considered ( even internal transfer application rejected). I heard from fellow nurses that transitioning from psych to med surgical is hard.

So now I started looking for Internship program. But heard that is mostly for New grad. I just need some guidance regarding transitioning .My ultimate goal is to be a ICU Nurse.

Thanks in Advance or your response.

Note: I have been a RN 5 years with home health and psych experience.

[Ashley.Hop, BSN, RN]

I would ask to shadow on a unit in your hospital, and ask that units' manager what they would recommend you do so that you would be considered for hire. It is a different skill set.

[NICUMurse87, BSN, RN]

I have heard that it can be incredibly difficult to transition from psych to med-surg nursing, as far as getting a job goes. I would recommend getting a letter of recommendation from a nurse currently working on the floor you would like to transfer to, if possible. Some facilities place a lot of emphasis on recommendations and they can make or break you in instances like this.

[indnur87]

Thanks for your responses.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

OP: Great advice above!! I want to add, Indur87, what is your reputation within the hospital? Does your current manager like you and value your skill set? If so, ask him/her to put in a good word to the hiring manager as well. In addition, is it possible to float to the other unit and work? I used to work in a float pool several years ago and the experience I gained working as a float RN allowed me to be seen as valuable to hiring mangers for years afterwards. GL!

[indnur87]

I do have good name in my unit . In our unit they won't float nurses without med surg background. I am applying for part time jobs. That may be another reason , I was not considered.One the HR told me to work on my resume which is lacking highlights of my medical nursing experiences. I am going to request recommendation letter from my manager . Let see how it goes. I will update.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

Here's the approach that I would take:

Make appointments to meet the managers on the floors where you'd like to work. Clearly state your desire to transition into a med-surg/med-tele role. Acknowledge that you lack certain kinds of appropriate experience but emphasize how eager you are to learn and ask if they can recommend any appropriate classes or topics of self-study that might be helpful. Emphasize the soft skills that you have developed in working with psych/dementia patients and geriatrics which experience is germane to *any* inpatient unit. Talk about a couple of interesting cases and what you learned and how it made you better equipped to cope with similar patients. Talk about how engaged you are in your current unit and how much positive energy you'd like to bring to a new one. As someone already mentioned, ask if you could shadow. Try to connect with a few nurses from those floors and go by on your lunch break. Make yourself seen and known.

If you have the opportunity to attend some training classes also attended by those nurses, do it! If there are hospital-wide committees on which those nurses serve, join!

Don't just *tell* them what an asset you would be, *show* them.

Recognize that this all takes time... figure 1 to 2 years.

Take the initiative to take classes like ACLS, TCAR, EKG, stroke, sepsis, etc. Recognize that sepsis is *the* hot topic right now and get yourself well versed in all things SIRS/sepsis related (s/sx, tx, etc).

And for heaven's sake, let that topic post be your last mention of the ICU... such declarations are the kiss of death when trying to transition onto the floor where they tend to be sensitive to being used as a stepping stone. It's fine to have ambitions and to work toward them; recognize, though, that you represent a significant cost in training for whichever department takes you on and people are looking for a solid return on their investments.

[gpsrn, MSN, RN]

I agree with others previously. My suggestion is to take online courses to go toward increasing your knowledge in med/surg content, even if your med/surg knowledge is good. It shows the employer that you are working at being proficient in the new position.

[indnur87]

Thanks for your detailed response. I am working on physical assessment, reading med sug books. I agree it will take few years to get confident in my new speciality after transition.Though, Getting into ICU is my goal, I always introspect myself whether I am ready for ICU because patient safety is important and also my license. Med surg experience will help me to enter into ICU.

[indnur87]

~♪♫ in my ♥~ thank you for your detailed response. I am working on physical assessment, reading med sug books. I agree it will take few years to get confident in my new speciality after transition.Though, Getting into ICU is my goal, I always introspect myself whether I am ready for ICU because patient safety is important and also my license. Med surg experience will help me to enter into ICU.

[advweaver]

For what it's worth, I made this change after seven years of psych nursing. I had also been applying internally for over a year without even one callback. It was driving me crazy because fresh grads were being offered the job and I couldn't even get an interview. It seemed so absurd because I had seven years of institutional knowledge, phlebotomy skills, committees, charge nurse experience, and deescalation training under my belt. It left me convinced that there is an ingrained stigma against psych nurses that somehow makes us less desirable than someone who took their NCLEX two days go.

Eventually I made the decision to be proactive and signed up for every med-surg relevant training I could find. EKG, ACLS, IV therapy, diabetes specialist, etc. After about 3-4 months of this, I finally got an interview. I can't say for certain that all of the training was what did it, but I don't think it hurt. I also had the good fortune to interview with a brand new manager who was pretty open-minded about that sort of thing. During the interview I heavily emphasized my desire for professional development, and was offered the job the next day. I did two years on that unit before moving to ICU, and after two years of ICU, I'm moving to a new position in the ER with hopes of eventually doing flight nursing. Making the leap from psych to med surg is way more difficult than it should be, but it can be done.

[indnur87]

Thanks . Its really motivating.