I am interested in emergency nursing or trauma nursing. What should I do fresh out of nursing school to improve my hireability and impress possible employers? I did get BLS, ACLS, NIHSS, NRP, and PALS.
You need a basic expierence in med-surg nursing so you can recognize the basics before you go onto trauma
I’ve had 30 yrs ICU including trauma
Did med-surg then recovery room which was valuble for prep to emergencies
If you are truly interested ED/Trauma you need some ER and trauma courses.
Look into the ENA CEN certification education - you cannot get cert without experience but you need the education. For trauma I highly recommend taking ENA's TNCC, or prehospital courses like PHTLS, BTLS.
Learn the mechanism of injury and the root causes of diseases. We only pay attention to the presenting symptoms. That helps but if you know those two items you can actually discover the real needs the patent has and make a real difference. By making a real difference you can keep that patient off the hamster wheel of our current symptom care system.
Additionally you need to get your meditation and shielding up and functional to keep yourself emotionally safe and avoid the ED nurse hard heart that turns patents into numbers, junkies, and aggravations.
Just wondering, where do you live? We are hiring into a nurse residency program and training new grad nurses into specialty areas in MA at the hospital I work at. If your interested, look into Bath Israel Lahey Hospitals (BILH) and see what they have on the careers site.
I would make sure that they have a preceptor program Or you’re setting yourself up for failure. I worked at level one trauma Center and I spent six weeks with a very well experienced RN. Even then she told me that I would not not be a seasoned ER nurse until at least three years I did she asked me. Do you know why you’re doing that? Critical thinking is crucial.
Northwell Health has emergency room fellowships. I started mine as a new grad.
Get some experience.
I went into Trauma ED at a level 1 in Los angeles as a new grad! Get TNCC and ATCN! Your best shot is applying at a county hospital in your area that's a level one once you are ready!
TNCC, ACTN
