Unfortunately you have found one major drawback to travel nursing; your learning options are limited.
I always encourage nurses to explore every experience they can while in a permanent position because once you are on the road, most facilities do not want the risk of having an inexperienced nurse take a certain patient population with which they may not be familiar. They also do not really want to spend any extra money on having you take courses or certifications when they would only benefit from your training for 13 or 26 weeks (versus a full time staff member who would presumably be there a lot longer). For these reasons, it is often hard to jump into other areas while traveling.
However, tele is not rocket science and you might be able to get a hospital to take a chance on you if you do have some extra course work. But, most of this would not be paid for by any facility, you would have to pay for it yourself (but should still be able to deduct it on your taxes). If you are taking ACLS, it is presumed that you are proficient in recognizing different dysrhythmias, but any EKG course might also help. I would also take a course on 12 lead EKG's and recognizing the signs of acute MI. Finally, if you want to also do drips, maybe a cardiac or ICU pharmacology course would be your entry into that.
Once you have these courses, it certainly looks good, and might make you a better nurse than most of the ones currently working tele, but it would still not be a sure thing that you would secure a tele position. All you can do is ask. Tell your recruiter to find you a tele position in a place where they might already have travelers. If someone from your company has a good relationship with the hospital system, they might be able to get you in.
During the interview, they will ask about your experience, which you will have to fess up to being limited. However, if you come back at them saying you have taken a pharmacology course specifically dealing with cardiac drips, have completed a 12-lead class, and have your ACLS certification, they might very well consider you. Again, with all that coursework behind you, you would probably be better prepared than half their staff. The problem lies in getting the nurse manager of a tele unit to see things the same way. That depends entirely upon that specific manager.
Hope this helps give you some direction.
David
http://travelnursesbible.com
david@travelnursesbible.com
