Internships ICU/MedSurg/PACU/Emergency choices

[Purlple]

I'm on my last year of school and applied to ICU internship (with potential employment) within one large teaching hospital. There are more people applied than the number of open spots. So, I may not get it. In a meantime I have to pick my second choice. Eventually, I would like to work in ICU. What should I choose as my second choice for the internship: Emergency, PACU, MedSurg? or should I apply to very small ICU in a small non-teaching hospital?

I had my clinicals in all these departments. The one thing I noticed that I liked my day if I worked in friendly nursing/doctors environment (any department). It could be the same dept but my day was totally different depending with whom I worked. One day I came home and I said to myself I loved Emergency (that day I was working with awesome nurse). The next day I was working with a nurse who had "Leave me alone attitude" and my day was awful. I came home with a thought "may be emergency is not for me". I know I think about the whole specialty based on people I worked with that day and this is not right, but I'm aware of it. I don't know if all of us in this way or only me. Wasn't like that for you in school, when you liked the teacher you liked the subject? Ok, I'm going away from my main question.

Any advises about the second choice for future ICU?

Thank you

[mrs/mom/rn]

I'm on my last year of school and applied to ICU internship (with potential employment) within one large teaching hospital. There are more people applied than the number of open spots. So, I may not get it. In a meantime I have to pick my second choice. Eventually, I would like to work in ICU. What should I choose as my second choice for the internship: Emergency, PACU, MedSurg? or should I apply to very small ICU in a small non-teaching hospital?

I had my clinicals in all these departments. The one thing I noticed that I liked my day if I worked in friendly nursing/doctors environment (any department). It could be the same dept but my day was totally different depending with whom I worked. One day I came home and I said to myself I loved Emergency (that day I was working with awesome nurse). The next day I was working with a nurse who had "Leave me alone attitude" and my day was awful. I came home with a thought "may be emergency is not for me". I know I think about the whole specialty based on people I worked with that day and this is not right, but I'm aware of it. I don't know if all of us in this way or only me. Wasn't like that for you in school, when you liked the teacher you liked the subject? Ok, I'm going away from my main question.

Any advises about the second choice for future ICU?

The people that you work with make a big difference. That being said, I think that working in med-surg is always a good choice. You always get a variety of patients. People tend to be more open to helpng others, because med-surg is so braod that no-one is expected to know all of it. You will learn skills that will transfer over to an icu. I have never worked the ed or pacu. But I have always heard that new grads do better in broader medical unit. good luck.