Career Corner >> Career Advice >> Nurse Career Path For Beginners
Nurse Career Path For Beginners
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Posted 3 months ago I will begin an accelerated RN-ADN program late September this year, and will finish December 2009. I want to know the best ways to go about specializing in critical/intensive care nursing, perhaps ER nursing. As I look around at job postings, I see that many of the openings for this type of nursing require at least one year in the particular dept. How to get my foot in the door? Also, I am not particularly location bound here in Michigan where I will complete my degree, if that makes a difference. Any ideas? Thanks. |
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| Posted 3 months ago I have been in Nursing for 25 years, and call me old fashioned, but the very best way to get your foot into ANY door in nursing is by either being accepted and hired into a new grad training class being offered in the specialty of your choice., or by putting in a good solid year on a med-surg unit where you will be given every type of nursing patient with every type of nursing procedure. You will do the basics to the daily procedures to the advanced prodedures at some time or another. After the year, with a solid clinical background, you can apply to the ER, ICU. OR, L&D, TCU, NCU, you name it. You will also feel a lot more confident taking on the patients in a specialty unit with a solid clinical footing honed from the year of med-surg. |
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| Posted 2 months ago As the PP said, really there's two ways to do it: some ER/OR/ICUs will take new grads into a special new-grad program (usually these start in July-ish and December or January-ish) and you can get in that way. The other way is to pick a hospital at which you'd like to work in critical care, and just start in med-surg, getting a year or two experience under your belt. This way may not work as well if they require a year of critical care and not just acute care experience, though, so check first. (Also, I forgot to add: if you're doing the new-grad program, be aware that their application deadlines and/or capacity is usually filled way in advance. Most hosptials I've looked at have a March deadline for their July program, and an October deadline for their winter program). |