My evolution from ICU Nursing to a successful Medical Device Sales Rep
Hello Fellow Healthcare Professionals,
My name is Gina. I’m excited to share my journey with you today! As a former ICU nurse and Interventional Radiology nurse working in outpatient vascular centers, I’ve experienced the highs and lows of bedside care and the world of interventional procedures. I’ve worked in a union hospital with excellent benefits and a strong union, working nights, then transitioned to an outpatient vascular center by chance, and that was a Mon-Fri gig no weekends no holidays. Over time, I found myself juggling four jobs: I ended up back in the hospital working full-time in the PACU of a trauma center, and three part-time jobs in outpatient vascular centers focusing on peripheral arterial work, deep venous work, and placing dialysis catheters and more. Despite the challenging workload, this diverse experience set the stage for an exciting career transition into medical device sales. One that I never knew existed, and one that I never knew I would be able to be successful at. I worked hard for my nursing degree. Why would I just leave what I worked so hard for? Well, I didn’t know at the time, or I heard about it, but felt I wasn’t that kind of a person, to where I am now, a successful saleswoman who is trying to bring in as many nurses, radiology technologists, respiratory therapists, ultrasound technologists, scrub techs, OR techs, research coordinators and more, into the most amazing life changing field – MEDICAL DEVICE.
The Starting Point
My journey began in the ICU, where I honed my skills in critical care and developed a deep understanding of patient needs. I witnessed a lot of death, young and old, was part of a stroke team and therapeutic hypothermia team for STEMI etc. This foundation was crucial when I moved to the Interventional Radiology field in an outpatient vascular center. In order to be hired in the OBL (term for outpatient based lab) the critical care experience I had was necessary because if a patient went down, there’s no team that comes running, it’s you and the doctor and the rest of the team you have in that center. Here, I gained specialized knowledge and hands-on experience with peripheral arterial procedures, which became integral to my future career.
Juggling Multiple Roles
Balancing four jobs was no small feat, especially as a mom with two young children. My days were packed, with a full-time commitment in the hospital’s PACU and part-time roles in outpatient centers. This experience, while demanding, was incredibly rewarding. This was where I began networking, and I didn’t even know it. Working in so many different places allowed me to build a comprehensive understanding of the medical field from different perspectives, including patient care, procedural intricacies, and the operational aspects of vascular centers and see these people coming into the procedures helping with the equipment, called “Reps”. Who are they? Why are they here? I wasn’t sure but they did buy us lunch and educate us on the products we were using so I appreciated that and always felt included when they were around, because they had knowledge about the procedures and equipment and seemed to have a different type of relationship with the doctor.
Discovering a New Path
So here I am working EVERYWHERE lol, and these reps were in many of the same labs I was in. I had a Radiology Technologist coworker who already left his role as a scrubbing RT for IR and went into the mysterious rep world. “What does he do all day?” I’d wonder, but for some reason never thought to ask. He would tell me, “You should join industry” and I’d almost laugh in the back of my mind like how could you think I would just leave all this hard work and sacrifice that it took to get through nursing school, and stand in the back of the procedure room… for what?” I was SO proud to be a nurse. I still am! But, after a different person asked me to join and let me in on a little secret, that I could earn what I am making at all four jobs, in just one, and have my car paid for and cell phone, the light went off in my head. Of course, why wouldn’t I join (As if it’s that easy). But I had something going for me, which is why I was sought after. Not all nurses or healthcare professionals have what I had, but I realized now after doing this for 6 years, I can help them get there, because we are the people that deserve to be here, but no one tells us about these opportunities. I am here to tell you. That’s why I founded NurseElevator.
Medical device sales emerged as an exciting career option, offering the opportunity to combine my clinical expertise with the potential for greater financial rewards and benefits. I decided to take the leap, and I knew, that if I did not like it, I could always go back to bedside. You can too. Join the NurseElevator community now to stay up to date and get alerts for my new posts. This is just the beginning for NurseElevator and the beginning for your transition into a new life as well. Let’s help patients in a new way, saving our backs, keeping our income stream on the up, and control our future
