[CaliRN29]

Hi Everyone,

First I have a general Pedi question for all (well more of a situation
I have been out of school and working as a new grad in an Adult ICU (with 1/2 medical pt. and 1/2 neuro pt.) however I am starting to think that the adult pt. is not for me. I find that I am ethically and morally conflicted daily due to the fact that we are aggressively treating people (intubated, pressers, etc) who are not going to get better and are usually 75+ years old. I did a preceptorship in Pedi during school and loved it. My hesitation is that I will have 4-5 pt. on the Pedi floor and I only have 2 right now in ICU. Also I am used to having pt. on continous monitoring and going onto the floor I will not have that. Any advice from the Pedi nurses out there?

Second, I am looking for a position within Kaiser at either the Morse Ave. or South Sac. Pedi unit and would like to hear from the nurses that work in either of those units to hear about the work enviroment! How are the charge RNs, how do you and your co-workers get along, more about the pt. population, your work load, the docs, etc!

Thanks so much!!!!

[Jolie]

I started out in the NICU as a new grad, and have worked in a few other settings since. I have always preferred having 1-2 sick ICU patients rather than 5-6 "walkie talkies" out on the floor for one simple reason: I could ALWAYS eyeball my ICU patients, and know their conditions in an instant. Obviously, not so with patients up and down the hall on the floor. Even though floor patients are deemed to be more stable, we are no less responsible for them than we are for our critically ill patients in the unit. I would rather provide total care for 1-2 patients than give fragmented care to 5-6, knowing in the back of my mind that they can all have potential unforseen complications when I am a hallway away, tied up with another patient.

That said, there are plenty of opportunities within maternal-child health that alow you to be 1;1 or 1:2 with patients, such as transport, NICU, PICU, L&D, high-risk antepartum, clinic nursing (OB or peds), home health, and school nursing.

I would highly recommend any and all of them! Good luck!