[whipping girl in 07]

I started in ICU straight out of nursing school nearly a year ago, and I don't regret it a bit. In fact, due to some "creative recruiting" on the part of the nurse mgr of our ICU and cardiac step-down unit, several nurses that I graduated with were told that they'd get into ICU within a year if they started on stepdown. Guess what happened? Many, many nurses on step-down quit, and the mgr decided she wasn't going to use stepdown as a training ground for ICU. So my classmates who expected to be in ICU within a year won't be getting there unless they quit and go to a different hospital. Pitiful, isn't it?

When I was interviewing I did not make the mistake of expressing any interest in stepdown, and I was offered a position in ICU. I was initially nervous, but I got a great orientation and the nurses I work with are always willing to teach if you want to learn.

Also, if you start as a grad nurse, you get a longer orientation, 12 weeks vs. 4-6 for an experienced nurse (no matter how pertinent the experience is). And I never got pulled out of orientation for the day because we were short (something that happened to nearly all the experienced nurses who were in orientation).

I personally don't think doing floor work first will make you any better in ICU. They are just not the same. And as for time management?! That can be learned anywhere. I learned excellent time management skills waiting tables and raising a child while attending nursing school!

[RENAISSANCE RN]

Hi,

I was wondering what qualities make a good ICU nurse? I find this work facinating and I think it would be for me. I have felt this way since my grandmother was hit by a car and placed into the icu. The icu nurses are unbelievable...

[AL bug]

IMHO... a good ICU nurse is able to manage crisis without freaking out, organize and prioritize tasks, think critically and seek information to the rationale of treatments (this makes you smarter), communicate intelligently with physicians but still be able to communicate with families of all educational backgrounds, show compassion to the patients and do for them what makes them more comfortable even when they are out of it and won't remember that you did it sometimes (drugs), and still have a sense of humor to not go crazy actually caring about all these strangers you have poured your life into for the last 12 hrs.

Hope all that made sense. I loved the atmosphere of the ICU, but got dissatisfied with the grunt work. You can never imagine how much you can learn from it until you go there. I felt I am capable of making a bigger contribution to healthcare and to the patients through anesthsia and so far I am enjoying it.

[RNConnieF]

Go straight to the ICU, do not pass Med-Surg. In the ICU the skill you'll use most is your own "feeling" that there is something going on with your patient. The second quality you'll use a lot is knowing when to ask for help, a second assessment, or an experienced oponion. You have to trust your intuition.

[MICU RN]

Go for it!

Don't waste your time on the floor. I went right into a busy sicu and yes it was hard and stressful. I than went into a super busy level one trauma ER and now I am in a great MICU. I t would have been a waste of time to go to the floor, it is a totally different mind set on the floor. I have the greatest respect for good floor nurses, but it is not the place to be if you want to go to crna school. Good luck! With the shortage you shouldn't have any problem finding an ICU to start in.