[CamilleL]

I've been in Adult SICU for 4 yrs and am going to work in PICU/NICU/CCU. Any advice from anyone who has made this change?
Thanks

[janfrn]

Look down at the bottom of the page for the window that lists similar threads. There are a lot of good threads and many detailed answers. Welcome aboard!

[AliRae]

I've been a peds nurse for always, but one of the best nurses I worked with in my old unit was a former SICU nurse! She made the swtich a few years ago and has loved it. She always said the biggest mental switch was just having to calculate dosages of everything. But it surely can be done!

[LoveICU]

I, too, am going to start working in the pediatric world. I have been a RN for 5 yrs (1 in Trauma ICU and 4 years in Adult Critical Care). I have an interview tommorrow in at a pediatric CVICU Level IIIc and level I trauma. I am very excited, but I am nervous. I hope I can make the switch relatively easy!!

[abcrn84]

yes, I have advice.....get the AACN book entitles "Core Curriculum for Pediatric ICU" and take it to work with you daily, to use as a reference.

Open yourself to new experiences, and above all, don't be afraid. Use your best resources that you have: your fellow RN's! We think in kg!! We estimate kids weights in the grocery stores, we check out their coughs at church, and look at those veins and wonder if they are a good stick!

Two more things: oxygen is your favorite "drug", for desats/brady's/over sedation etc.............but be careful using it with your heart babies.....know your heart defects.

Also as you walk the unit, take some time to look at their weights and practice the emergency drug calculations in your head, until you are standing in church, estimating weights and epi/atropine doses! Think in kg all the time!!

[janfrn]

Originally Posted by abcrn84

yes, I have advice.....get the AACN book entitles "Core Curriculum for Pediatric ICU" and take it to work with you daily, to use as a reference.

I'd recommend that if you do that, invest in a sturdy tote bag to carry the sucker in... it's huge. It's actually called Core Curriculum for Pediatric Critical Care Nursing and it's sitting on my desk staring at me right now.