I work in the ICU as an Apprentice Nurse and being in the ER while you are waiting for that position to open up in the ICU is a good idea. For one, if you will be at a hospital that has trauma, you will become familiar with the trauma docs that you see in the ICU a lot. Plus, you will meet a lot of the RN's that once you begin in the ICU, you will deal with a lot (taking off report, etc.). The atmosphere is much different, but the patients sometimes will be similar (very critical). The atmosphere in our ER is kind of like organized chaos, loud, with lots of people always running around. The ICU is quiet and more "controlled". I couldn't decide between ER and ICU but decided that since I tend to get claustrophobic sometimes, the ER would probably be a bad choice for me! LOL. Plus, I've been in the ICU since December 2003 as a Tech/Apprentice Nurse (I was hired right after my first semester of school) and I LOVE the environment, the people, the docs, the supervisors (did I just say that????), and anything else there. I really don't have any complaints about my unit and am really excited to be working there once I graduate.
I would definitely take the job in the ER.....the experience you get there will benefit you more than the one in ortho, more than likely. At least in our facility, it would.
Melanie
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