Are you considering switching from your current nursing specialty to another? If so, figuring out your next career move can be challenging, especially if you want to go into a completely different area of nursing.
Changing your specialty may seem intimidating, but you might feel more comfortable with your decision with some research.
In this article, you will learn:
- Reasons why nurses may want to switch specialties
- Questions to ask yourself before switching specialties
- Tips for switching specialties
- And much more
Table of Contents
- 4 Reasons Why Nurses May Want to Switch Specialties
- How Hard Is It to Switch Nursing Specialties?
- 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Switching Nursing Specialties
- Ready to Switch? 5 Tips for Switching Specialties in Nursing
- Looking for a Change in Your Nursing Career? Create a Free Profile Today and Let Trusted Nurse Staffing Help Guide You
Can You Switch Specialties as a Nurse?
Yes! Nursing is one of the most versatile careers in terms of switching specialties to reflect your preferences, lifestyle, and career goals.
Obviously, what you do will remain static in whatever department you choose to work in. You’ll still be caring for patients, but the setting, people you work with, procedures you perform, and pace of your environment will vary depending on which specialty you choose.
For some, switching specialties may seem like a lot of work, for the chance that you may not like the specialty you switch to. Luckily, there are ways you can dip your toes into potential departments without having to commit to fully diving in.
You can also try travel nursing if you feel like the thrill of nursing has gone a bit stale for you. Travel nurses get to immerse themselves in new cities, new facilities, and new experiences often (depending on the length of your contract). Nothing puts even the most seasoned staff nurse up for a challenge than having to rememorize different hospital layouts — or even more challenging, the layout of local grocery stores.
Trusted Nurse Staffing has created Pronto to provide potential travel nurses with limitless options when it comes to searching for the right travel nurse assignment for them. Simply register with Pronto to get started, find a job, and we’ll help you manage the rest.
4 Reasons Why Nurses May Want to Switch Specialties
There are many reasons why nurses choose to change their specialties, including personal reasons or life changes. Consider these four reasons:
#1: You Want to Work in a New Setting
If you want to grow or define your career, working in a different setting can help. You can change specialties to work in a completely different environment and capacity where you feel your contributions matter more.
Another way to work in a new setting is travel nursing. With travel nursing, you can change locations as often as you like.
As a travel nurse, you can target any hospital or clinic you’re interested in to see what working life will be like in that setting. You can try different settings to find out what works best for you.
Trusted Nurse Staffing offers travel nurse positions in a variety of healthcare settings, such as:
- Hospitals
- Doctors offices
- Outpatient clinics
- Specialty healthcare centers
Curious about where your journey with Trusted Nurse Staffing and Pronto will take you? Learn more today.
#2: You No Longer Feel Passionate About Going to Work
If you are happy in your current role, you should be passionate about your work and the patients you serve.
If you aren’t proud of your work and don’t feel excited about your wins, you might need to change your work life.
A career change is also an option for those who dread going to work.
If you’ve already eliminated the possibility that the staff or organization is making you feel unhappy, you might consider changing specialties.
Some specialties are not suitable for some nurses. In addition, working with the same types of trauma or cases for an extended period can be exhausting.
#3: You Need a New Challenge
If you’ve been in the field for some time but do not feel challenged, you may feel like you could contribute more in your current role.
You’re a nurse, after all; you revel in a career that is fast-paced and may often involve life-or-death situations. It’s in your very nature to seek challenges.
What better way to challenge yourself than by going back to school, adding more certifications to your resume, and switching up your specialty entirely? And if switching your nursing specialty wasn’t as big of a challenge, you can always throw travel nursing into the mix.
#4: You’d Like To Make More Money
A 2022 survey exploring the factors that influence nurses’ choice of specialty found that wages were the top motivator for nurses to switch or choose specialties.
Switching your specialty will take a bit of work, but if that results in your making more money, that work may be well worth it.
According to ZipRecruiter, the ten highest-paying nurse specialties of 2024 include:
- Emergency medicine nurse practitioner: $121,000 to $400,000 per year
- Gastroenterology nurse practitioner: $108,000 to $400,000 per year
- Pain management nurse: $345,500 to $400,000 per year
- CRNA: $190,500 to $348,000 per year
- Surgical nurse practitioner: $97,000 to $338,000 per year
- Ophthalmic nurse: $274,000 to $323,000 per year
- ENT nurse: $59,000 to $316,000 per year
- Telehealth nurse: $84,000 to $250,000 per year
- Internal medicine nurse practitioner: $119,000 to $214,000 per year
- Critical care nurse practitioner: $99,000 to $190,000 per year
The more education, experience, and passion you invest in your nursing career, the more you will make. Sometimes, that means going back to school or considering travel nursing.
Trusted Nurse Staffing makes it possible to do both. In addition to offering our nurses reimbursement for CEUs, certifications, and licensing, we offer a student loan reimbursement program that supports our employees with tax-free student loan reimbursements of up to $5,250 every year.
Let’s partner together to help you become the best nurse you can be.
How Hard Is It to Switch Nursing Specialties?
Switching nursing specialties can be challenging, but it is very doable and sometimes necessary.
Even though many nurses already have the educational background and training to work in a different specialty, they’re worried about the perceived difficulty of switching nursing specialties.
Some specialties may require more schooling or additional certifications. Others may require you to work different hours or become skilled in new procedures.
And some specialties may be easy to switch to. It all depends on which specialty you want to try out.
5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Switching Nursing Specialties
When you’re considering changing your nursing specialization, it’s pretty clear that something’s not working for you. So consider why you no longer enjoy your current specialty before making the leap.
The following questions can help you determine your reasons for wanting to make a switch.
#1: Do I Want More or Less Contact With Patients?
Do you feel burnt out from patient care and need to take on a position where you won’t be in contact with patients as much?
Are you sitting behind a desk and wishing to spend more time with patients?
Nurses can choose between positions that involve more or less patient contact. The type of speciality you switch to could reduce or increase your patient contact, it all depends what you choose to do.
#2: Am I Happy in a Hospital Setting?
Hospitals are buzzing with activity 24/7. Hospitalized patients are sometimes in life-threatening situations and require proactive care and monitoring.
While this can be exciting for some nurses, it can be stressful and overwhelming for others.
The hospital settings also require nurses to work long shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays. If this has become challenging for you, maybe a clinic setting would suit you better. Or how about a home health setting?
With a degree in nursing, you can work in various environments with variables. Feel free to switch and see what works best for you.
#3: Do I Like to Be Part of a Team or Prefer to Work Alone?
Do you desire to work alone and interact with coworkers less? Would you prefer to work in a team?
It’s possible to do both in nursing.
For example, all practitioners need to work together to ensure that patients receive the best possible care in an ICU setting.
If you prefer working alone, your co-workers are rarely present in a home health setting, and you spend most of your time with your patients, making this an ideal setting for you.
#4: Do I Have Time for Any Additional Education or Training?
Further education can prepare you for a new career or help you find your dream job.
Depending on how drastic your switch is, you might need additional education to prepare for a new nursing specialty.
Additional education might include day-long workshops or certification courses or be more involved, such as auditing classes at a local college or even getting an advanced degree.
Be honest with yourself when you decide if you have time for this additional education or training.
#5: Would I Like a Nursing Specialty Where I Can Travel?
Do you like to travel? Are you looking for some adventure? Travel nursing might be a fit for you!
If you are interested in travel nursing, pick an in-demand specialty where you can travel. Some of the most in-demand specialties include:
- Labor and delivery nurses
- Operating room nurses
- Neonatal intensive care unit nurse
- Post-anesthesia care unit nurse
- ICU nurses
- Emergency room nurses
- Pediatrics nurse
- Step-down unit nurse
- Telemetry nurses
The goal of Trusted Nurse Staffing is to make your travel nurse experience as easy and enjoyable as possible.
All team members are dedicated to ensuring that your assignments are a great fit for you. In addition, as a travel nurse with Trusted Nurse Staffing, you have access to your own personal Trusted Partner who is there for you at every turn.
Along with designing our travel nurse recruiting program to be holistically supportive, we’ve created Pronto to help travel nurses find their dream assignments. What are you waiting for? Let’s get started today.
Ready to Switch? 5 Tips for Switching Specialties in Nursing
After considering your reasons for wanting to change nursing specialties, it’s time to make the switch.
The following are five strategies to keep in mind as you prepare for the transition.
#1: Research Other Nursing Specialties
Now that you’ve evaluated yourself, it’s time to assess specialties.
You should research the different specialties and be aware of additional schooling or certification requirements, pay differences, and life/work balance.
When you begin to research, start online by reading:
- Industry publications
- News articles
- Reputable blogs
- Relevant journals; or
- Whatever else you think might be helpful
Along with your online research, try attending nursing conferences and job fairs.
It’s a great way to quickly learn about various career options and an excellent opportunity to meet colleagues and recruiters you might not otherwise encounter. Someone you sit next to at a conference panel might become your coworker or boss one day.
#2: Gain Hands-On Experience
Now that you’ve narrowed down the list of possible specialties you’re interested in, it’s time to experience them yourself.
Shadow nurses in the units you consider, just as if you were in nursing school again.
After working as a nurse for a while, it may seem strange to go back to shadowing. Still, you can’t fully understand what it would be like to work in a specific specialty simply by reading articles or talking to people — the action needs to be witnessed in person, so don your scrubs and go shadowing.
#3: Network With Others in Your Desired New Specialty
Most jobs are found through networking and employee referrals rather than traditional job searches.
You will increase your chances of finding a relevant job opportunity by networking with others in your specialty. Therefore, it’s wise to start networking early before you’ve even decided on a particular specialty.
Reach out to colleagues, tell them you’re considering a change, and ask if they would be willing to answer some questions about their jobs.
Then, once you’ve decided on a specialty and established a networking relationship, you can tell them what kind of position you’re looking for.
#4: Consider the Best Time to Transition
The time to switch specialties is almost as important as the specialization itself.
If you transition too early, you’ll look like a job hopper with commitment issues, but if you transition too late, it might be challenging to catch up with younger colleagues.
Generally speaking, the best time to make a switch is after you have mastered your original specialty and your growth has plateaued, but not so late that you have moved up the ranks and have to swallow a significant reduction in title or compensation.
Of course, major personal events such as moving and having a baby are also part of this equation, so don’t forget to account for those.
#5: Try a Change of Scenery First
Think outside the box before making a massive shift in specialty or investing a lot of time and money into something new. For example, consider working at a clinic instead of a hospital or traveling as a nurse to experience a new setting.
A few other ideas include:
- Travel nursing
- Float nursing
- Aesthetics
- Clinical education
- Pharmaceutical sales
- Risk management
- And more
Looking for a Change in Your Nursing Career? Create a Free Profile Today and Let Trusted Nurse Staffing Help Guide You
The point is: you don’t have to leave the profession of nursing if a bigger challenge, more wages, or a change of pace is all you seek.
The nursing field is so versatile that you can make even minor adjustments, and it might make a night and day difference in your career.
And Trusted Nurse Staffing and Pronto will help you every step of the way.
Ready to get serious about exploring your options?
Register at Pronto and start scrolling through jobs. When you find the right one, we’ll assign you a team of travel nursing professionals to help you navigate this exciting career change.
You’ll find your place with us. Now, let’s get started.