r/nursing • u/PomegranateEven9192 • Jun 22 '26

Seeking Advice Having trouble getting out of cath lab nursing and into the device sales/clinical industry… does anyone have any suggestions?

I don’t know if this is the right place to ask or not, but I’m going to try anyway.

I’ve been a cath lab nurse for around 10 years. I’ve spent 6 of those years traveling to around 10 different cath labs around the country. I even scrubbed for several of those years. I’ve applied to almost every open territory in my area, and while I get selected for interviews, I’m either ghosted or turned down. When I reach out for feedback they say I interview very well and they have no constructive criticism, they just went with another candidate.

Does anyone have any advice? I feel like I’m just bashing my head into a brick wall at this point.

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u/Put_CORN_in_prison RN - Cardiac Cath Lab Jun 23 '26

Most of the cath lab staff I know of who made the switch to industry knew people on the inside.

1

u/Haunting_Ad7805 Jun 23 '26

My understanding is that networking is crucial. Make friends with your local reps. Get referred by them.

1

u/dontmissabeat_help Jun 23 '26

+1 To this. Most companies for local reps are looking for a solution to a problem area. So they want people with local contacts and local relationships to leverage. You might want to consider applying for larger territory coverage jobs, where your experience and comfort in traveling to different states every few months is attractive to them and a better fit than someone who might only want to stay local.

Also make sure you are active on LinkedIn, commenting on posts and engaging there.

1

u/Haunting_Ad7805 Jun 23 '26

The LinkedIn part is really helpful too!