Why working as an ED nurse so competitive?

Specialties Emergency

Published

I have sister in law who used to be a hiring manager in a hospital. I asked some help from her to do some corrections on my resume and she did. But I had some questions because she told me working in the ED as a nurse is so competitive. And it will be difficult for me to be hired as an ED nurse because it has been a year and a half I worked in the department. Moreover, because I am a foreign nurse.

This really hurt my heart. But I understand because it took me so long to apply for a job. So my questions are, why is it so competitive to get a job as a ED nurse? And do I really have a low chance of getting hired in ED because of my aituation?

Thanks!

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
On 3/10/2019 at 7:01 PM, Meriwhen said:

It's competitive because a lot of people want to work in the ED. Why? It's a stepping stone to a lot of critical care specialties and advanced practice, it offers a lot of variety (seriously, most of your patients are out the door in 24 hours or less), it's fast-paced and it's challenging.

And for some, it's the be-all end-all.

As far as your chances...I don't know. Being out of practice for 1.5 years is probably your biggest handicap in the race. Have you been working as a nurse at all during that time? What have you been doing to keep your ED knowledge current since you've been out?

Med/Surg is a stepping stone to critical care specialties, floor nursing in those specialties is a stepping stone to critical care specialties, but I have never seen ED as a stepping stone to critical care. But then, I've worked in critical care since 1983, and have been precepting since 1985, and I've only had one orientee that was previously an ED nurse. And he was getting critical care experience so he could transition to flight nursing.

1 Votes

^ people leave from my ED to ICU all the time. Some want that ER/ICU experience for their NP future.

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
On 3/14/2019 at 10:53 AM, Ruby Vee said:

Med/Surg is a stepping stone to critical care specialties, floor nursing in those specialties is a stepping stone to critical care specialties, but I have never seen ED as a stepping stone to critical care. But then, I've worked in critical care since 1983, and have been precepting since 1985, and I've only had one orientee that was previously an ED nurse. And he was getting critical care experience so he could transition to flight nursing.

1

You're absolutely right. I just double-checked the postings I were thinking about when I wrote that, and I have it backward...my bad☺️

Specializes in Adult and pediatric emergency and critical care.
On 3/14/2019 at 11:53 AM, Ruby Vee said:

Med/Surg is a stepping stone to critical care specialties, floor nursing in those specialties is a stepping stone to critical care specialties, but I have never seen ED as a stepping stone to critical care. But then, I've worked in critical care since 1983, and have been precepting since 1985, and I've only had one orientee that was previously an ED nurse. And he was getting critical care experience so he could transition to flight nursing.

I actually started in the ED of my current hospital specifically so that I could end up working on an inpatient critical care unit, and another nurse before me did the same thing. I don't intend on ever flying. Quite a few of my friends have started in EDs and ended up working in ICUs or PICUs very successfully.

I think that there are nurses in the ED who are very ER minded and will struggle with inpatient critical care and those who can blend the two more seamlessly. The latter are far more rare but we do exist.

On 3/11/2019 at 11:59 AM, JKL33 said:

Do you have a cover letter to accompany your resume? That is your opportunity to present yourself as someone with a nice foundation who is excited to get back to the ED. Sometimes people post things like résumés and cover letters here for others to offer helpful comments.

Also, yes - send out a lot more than two applications.

Good luck ~

Thank you! I wish I knew that you all can help me with my resume and cover letter!

I had an interview in Adventist and shadowed a ED nurse. Things went great, I felt like they are trying to say I am hired or something but never confirmed it. After I shadowed the nurse I left and was not able to talk to the nurse manager if I got hired. But it was all great, I just didn't like the night shift offer because it is a non rotating shift. Anyway, on the day of my interview at Adventist I got an invitation to be interviewed in Holy Cross. So I do not know now.

Specializes in ER, Rehab, TCU, Medsurg.

It's not that competitive depending on the state. Where I live and work, there is high turnover because ED's in the inner cities also have a high rate of violence due to psych patients. I work in one an ER of a teaching hospital and half of our patient's our adult and child psych patients. The other half is adult medical patients. I love the core staff I work with. There are new nurses who come and maybe stay about 6 months to a year and leave to another ER.

I also love working with the immigrant population who always are teaching me about their culture.

What I have learned is that you must find a place where you are a good fit. Some nurses bounce from ED to ED because they think the a different ER will be better.

2 Votes
Specializes in Emergency.

When I was a new nurse out of school, I was surprised I landed an ER job. There was, of course, a catch. This ER was always packed and understaffed, many orientees didn't make it through training and none of the ICU nurses they cross trained were willing to come back lol. Once I got used to the hectic environment/ conditions, I really started to love it.

Look for hospitals with high turnover rates, or any with large ERs, your chances will go up. If you're still not having luck, apply to any unit in the hospital that will take you. It's much easier for a hospital to cross train and then hire you full time in the ED than to accept and train a new hire. Even if it takes a lot longer, at least you'll be closing that gap in your resume.

Best of luck!

Specializes in Emergency Department.

To be honest I don’t feel it was hard at all. I got my first nursing job at a county hospital in Miami in the ED. They were hiring like crazy. I moved to Houston 5 months ago. I can tell you that my new ED is also hiring like crazy. I have never been to an ED that isn’t hiring like crazy. ED’s are the new revolving door specialties. People get burnt out from being physically and mentally drained for the entire 12 hours every time you’re at work. I would apply apply apply. I know you’ll get in. Don’t quit, go for what you want. You got this!

1 Votes

I got a few offers right out of school but that was after about 50 applications all over the country. And no level 1 traumas. A couple Level 2 trauma ICUs interviewed me, and I ended up only getting offers for level 4 traumas. Someone probably wants you, but if you only apply to the perfect jobs you might not get anything.

Specializes in ER, HH, Case Management.
On 3/10/2019 at 7:08 PM, Emergent said:

That's because, the ED is fun, entertaining and glamorous. I noticed that when I switched to ER, I got some more street cred respect. It's considered the coolest job in nursing I suspect.

If you mean most hated by every freaking department in the hospital then yeah... it's the coolest. ?

My personal opinion is that people watch to many TV shows and don't actually know what ER is all about.

Working rural ER is a totally different animal compared to a big city ER. Big city would be a cake walk.

Specializes in Adult and pediatric emergency and critical care.
5 hours ago, bradons said:

Working rural ER is a totally different animal compared to a big city ER. Big city would be a cake walk.

Tell that to the two traumas I had to work in the hall because we had no open rooms and all of the city blew up at once.

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