I just graduated with my BSN in May and was able to get a job at the local hospital in the ICU. I was beyond stoked since very few, if any, new grads get into that right off. With 5 years of EMS work as an AEMT, I figured I could handle what got thrown my direction. Most of my preceptors were awesome in helping me work through difficulties. At a meeting, the director wanted to go to 80 hours for the last month of orientation. Keep in mind that she is only allowing 15-16 weeks for a new grad to orient. For the last week, I was told by the director that the ICU was not my nitch and that she would let me go. A week later after busting my butt and not having my preceptor hover over me, I was told that I was no longer an employee for that unit and for the hospital. So here I am now with no job and cannot really go anywhere because of working for just 3 months...Fortunately, another place I went to prior to accepting this job has a FT opening in the ED. Hoping for a better outcome.

Did you ever learn why you lost the job and what made the director think you weren't a good fit? If not, then I am not sure how well you will be able to do in an even more fast-paced environment. I would definitely take some time to reflect and figure out why you weren't successful the first time around so that you don't make the same mistakes going foward. Best of luck!

The EMS system and nursing are so very different. And that becomes apparent in a great deal of units. Best wishes in your endevours.

So what reasons did your supervisor feel that ICU is not your niche in nursing?. (Pet peeve there is no such word as nitch)

What were your struggles? What were your challenges? What comments or corrections were offered by your preceptors?

You cannot move forward until you reflect on what "went wrong". As you found out being an AEMT in the field is not even a close approximation to critical care nursing in an acute care hospital.

How were your previous evaluations? Seems odd that nothing was mentioned until the last week, and then you were let go.

I'm sorry it worked out this way but glad you already have another job lined up. Kudos for not blaming your preceptors and I agree it would be important to try and figure out what went wrong. My guess is something was up when they wanted you to change hours during the last month.

Just curious how much orientation time is expected for a new grad? I'm in psych which is very different of course but I don't recall anyone getting more than 3-4 weeks if that much.

Keep in mind that she is only allowing 15-16 weeks for a new grad to orient.

15 to 16 weeks (about four months) is a very generous time allotment for a new grad orientation.

I'm so sorry about your termination. Hopefully you can learn some lessons from it and move on with your career. Good luck to you.

So what reasons did your supervisor feel that ICU is not your niche in nursing?. (Pet peeve there is no such word as nitch)

What were your struggles? What were your challenges? What comments or corrections were offered by your preceptors?

You cannot move forward until you reflect on what "went wrong". As you found out being an AEMT in the field is not even a close approximation to critical care nursing in an acute care hospital.

You are correct in that being an AEMT in nothing like being in a ICU. My challenges were getting medications in on time, documenting assessments in the computer faster, discharging patients in a timely manner. This is all stuff that came up on the day shift when I was with one preceptor. From the documentation from all the rest of my preceptors, I was progressing well. With suggestions like starting med pass at 8:15am for 9am non-critical meds worked well.

As far as the director, she only heard what this one preceptor had to say. She did not look back on what the others had said about me. I personally feel she did not fully grasp what I had done in the time I've been working there. Decisions were made and now I have to move on. No use crying over spilled milk

How were your previous evaluations? Seems odd that nothing was mentioned until the last week, and then you were let go.

Previous evaluations were very good. Each preceptor had their own take on what I could improve on and what my strengths were but each on (except for the last one) saw improvement and progression every shift. I was notified in a progress meeting a week before I was let go that the director would not hire me if she had to make a decision. I tried to prove her wrong but it did not work. For that last week, my preceptor floated around helping others and let me do my own thing. That week went smooth and then I get the ball dropped on me

I'm sorry it worked out this way but glad you already have another job lined up. Kudos for not blaming your preceptors and I agree it would be important to try and figure out what went wrong. My guess is something was up when they wanted you to change hours during the last month.

Just curious how much orientation time is expected for a new grad? I'm in psych which is very different of course but I don't recall anyone getting more than 3-4 weeks if that much.

The director wanted to increase my hours for the last month to 80 ppp from 72 because I had not taken care of a patient with drips or something requiring very close attention to as the patient census in the ICU wasn't so. Got moved to the PCU and had diltiazem gtt + amino gtt (same pt), insulin gtt, heparin gtt, and gave a unit of blood in that month.

Some places do 6 months of orientation for a new grad and with the ICU being what it is, some facilities where I'm from do up to a year. 3-4 months would be expected for a floor nurse. This was why I was kind of taken aback.

15 to 16 weeks (about four months) is a very generous time allotment for a new grad orientation.

I'm so sorry about your termination. Hopefully you can learn some lessons from it and move on with your career. Good luck to you.

Lessons and experiences have been learned from all of this. I can understand 15-16 weeks for a new grad going onto the med/surg floor but for ICU? I personally feel like I was shorted. I felt like I just got my feet underneath me when they let me go. Oh well, moving on

Lessons and experiences have been learned from all of this. I can understand 15-16 weeks for a new grad going onto the med/surg floor but for ICU? I personally feel like I was shorted. I felt like I just got my feet underneath me when they let me go. Oh well, moving on

Actually, my med surg orientation was a whopping 6 wks. I could have had up to 8 if I needed. And we run heparin, insulin, and amio gtts on my floor, with vents and pod 3 transplants. I think you really need to reconsider moving to the ER.

I did not go back to ask. I was given a letter saying that I had a hard time making a difference between EMS and RN. I discussed these challenges with my new boss and she was very acceptive of my struggles and how I planned to go about resolving them. The staff at the place where I work are very helpful. They check in with me and I mention if I don't feel comfortable and if there is something I have a question on. Very close group of nurses working together between LNA, RN, and PA's. Love it!!