Lots of experience in critical care a must?

Specialties Critical

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So I am a floor nurse with little experience at this point, and am planning on continuing my education towards a critical care NP. I have no experience with critical care/trauma, but have enjoyed it very much during my clinical experiences. In your opinion, how much critical care experience should be necessary before an NP practices professionally in this area? Thank you!

Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

I'm going to say 5 years minimum, and I could be being generous. I'm not a fan of NPs practicing w/o having experience and gained independence as an RN anyway, but w/ critical care you're not going to learn everything in a year. My hospital doesn't even train RNs to run CRRT until we've been there 2 years. ECMO is longer--3 yrs at least, but it could be 5 (I've only been at my current job a year). I'd recommend trying to get hired into a high level ICU asap and start learning the many pieces of The Big Picture.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

You need at LEAST two years in the ICU to be an independent co-worker. Before that, you don't even know what you don't know and some other, more experienced nurse is always "keeping an eye out" for trouble with your patients. Even if you THINK you're practicing by yourself, some crusty old bat has an eye out and is ready to step in if you need help, even if you don't realize you need help. (Bet a lot of you didn't know that, huh?) After two years, you're starting to become competent and becoming aware of the vast quantity of information you don't know. But that's the time when you're being asked to do charge or precept, and many (TOO many) two year nurses conclude that they know everything they need to know and that they're excellent nurses because they're now being asked to step up. Truly, you're not excellent, you don't know everything you need to know, but you look like you have potential and they really, REALLY need charge nurses and preceptors.

If you stay five years, you'll have become competent (if you're capable of becoming competent; some aren't). You'll have much more depth of understanding, and you'll have a far better idea of what you don't know. At this point, you'd be OK to start NP school, knowing that you won't finish for 3 or 4 or however many years it takes you to go to school part time while working.

Yes, there are NPS in critical care with far less experience who think they're competent NPs and who are sure they're doing just fine. Maybe you should ask whether their colleagues agree. Don't ask the colleagues who are ALSO NPs (or going to NP school) with far less experience . . . ask the crusty old bats.

Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
Yes, there are NPS in critical care with far less experience who think they're competent NPs and who are sure they're doing just fine. Maybe you should ask whether their colleagues agree. Don't ask the colleagues who are ALSO NPs (or going to NP school) with far less experience . . . ask the crusty old bats.

Going from no practice to advanced practice...sheer foolishness. :yes:

Specializes in Adult ICU/PICU/NICU.

IMHO, advanced practice nursing is for experiences nurses who have learned their craft from being a nurse in that area for years and years. I'm not sure why you would want to jump from floor nursing right into an advanced practice role based on your experience in nursing school. I could understand if you wanted to transfer to critical care as a nurse who takes care of the patients and then after many years of that you could consider advanced practice.

There is a huge difference between the academic nursing taught in schools and the real nursing practiced on the unit. You need both to do the job.

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