So here's the deal. I've been a nurse for 17 years, but I've been in a clinic for the last 4-5. I'd like to travel, but I've got to figure out what I need to do to get there. It's not like I've forgotten how to take care of pts, but they want recent acute experience within a year or so. I'm debating about gettting back into the ICU. I'd prefer PACU, but there are no openings now for it. I noticed 30 openings in one company for case management RNs, which I thought was kind of odd. Would I be able to do that without postponing for a year to go to ICU?
Kristin
There are several ways to go about this, but ultimately it is about deciding what is going to make you happy.
As for case management, is that something in which you are interested? You spoke of getting "back" into the ICU or looking for a PACU position. Both of these are obviously bedside positions with some real hands-on experience. As a ICU nurse myself, I would sooner poke myself in the eye with an insulin syringe than to have to sit and review charts for my job. It's something to think about; is someone with your background going to be happy in a case management position?
The second thing about case management is I am not sure about the prevalence of case management in travel nursing. Are all those case management positions at one hospital or several? Also, is it just that one company that has many case management positions, or have you been in contact with others that have case management positions? The reason I ask is because case management is not really a specialty that has been dominant in travel nursing. It has usually been filled by interior sources (hospitals fill from within their organization). If it is emerging as a new specialty, then you might do well traveling in that field. However, if the postings are a temporary spike in need, then you might end up eventually having to find another specialty in which to travel if, or when, those positions became scarce again. If you were to get back into the ICU, I could pretty much say with certainty that you would never find critical care travel positions becoming scarce.
So, if the case management positions are something you would like to try, talk to more travel companies to try to figure out if it is going to be a sustainable field for you in which to travel. Again, it wasn't something I found very common in the past, but may be an emerging specialty in travel. And, you also need to make sure you are qualified to take a travel position in case management (I assume you are looking at these because you do some sort of case managing at the clinic).
That is my answer if you are asking for advise. If you are asking my opinion, then I would tell you to get back in the hospital in an ICU position. I've traveled in that specialty for over a decade and feel as if it would give you the best options in travel. I don't know that all states would have positions in case management (again, not my experience, but may be a growing trend), but, what I do know is that if a certain area is hiring travelers, chances are they have an ICU position.
Plus, if you already have years of ICU experience, you might find a company that is willing to work with you and see if they can find you a position (assuming you get back into an ICU to get recent experience). This is not a certainty at all, but once you got back into an ICU (once again, assuming you already have a good number of years in an ICU setting), you could call up companies and tell them your situation and ask them if they know of any facilities that would be willing to take you considering your experience. It might be a long shot, but maybe some facility is desperate for ICU nurses and is willing to take a traveler with an ICU background, but only 3-6 months recent experience.
Even if the aforementioned situation doesn't pan out and you have to spend a full year in ICU, I know that it might seem like a long time to postpone things, but it really isn't that long a period to devote to a specialty that should keep you traveling as long as you wish.
I hope this helps or at least gives you some options to consider.
