Re: How do all the experienced ICU nurses feel about.... Originally Posted by Preeps 
I'm sorry but your post seems very puffed up for lack of a better word.. . You seem not only condescending to nurses who don't care to work in ICU but also extremely naive. you say you've been a nures for one year, and that "doctors listen to your suggestions, except for the jerks" (of course!). Of course you are a self proclaimed "rising star!" Is anyone who doesn't automatically a jerk? I would fear any MD who would take advise from a novice nurse in the ICU!
I fear someone needs a reality check-and fast!
Really? I was simply trying to emphasize that it's not necessary to have experience to be a good nurse as a new grad in the ICU.
I'm certainly not condescending to floor nurses, I just recognize the fact that there are differences... I personally don't think I could handle 6 med surg patients without pulling my hair out, but I can handle 2 critically ill patients.
Yes, I do speak to the doctors, and I do ask a lot of questions, especially when I feel that something isn't right, or why something isn't done a different way. A lot of doctors respect my opinion, and I am
very interested in their rationales for certain orders. It's all about learning and realizing that nobody knows everything. Every doctor and every nurse can learn from one another. That's why we are a
health care team. When I first started as a new nurse, I used to be afraid to call certain docs because of their reputations for yelling at nurses who called them in the middle of the night. This is no different for any new grad, on any floor.
Most of the time when I call a doc, he/she is not mad because I'm calling due to something important/critical I have found in my assessment. They know from working with me that I'm not calling for something petty, or for something that could wait until morning.
We all know the "jerk" docs I am referring to... i.e. some of the brand new July residents who think that they are above nurses just because they have the title MD behind their name. These are the docs whom you've called 3 different times throughout the night because you feel your patient is having a hard time breathing. These are the docs who get mad and refuse to even come see the patient, order ABGs, CXRs, etc. This is when you come back the next night and see that the patient was emergently intubated an hour after your shift ended.
When a certain doc who is notorious for being somewhat crochety and picky calls me on the spur of the moment and asks if I am taking care of his fresh post-op LVAD patient and says "Oh good," it makes me think that I must be a pretty good nurse since the only other time I've heard him say that was to nurses who have been in the ICU for over 10 years.
I am the type of person who will admit when I am wrong. I view everything as a learning experience. My whole point in posting was to encourage people who are considering starting out in ICU. Some of us are better suited to certain areas of nursing. My area is not the floor, and it's not because I think floor nurses lack intelligence or skill. In fact, if someone threw out into med surg, I would probably look like a deer in the headlights because I don't have the types of skills suited to maintaining 6 different patients at once. I'm far too Type A for that. If you look at the personalities of ICU nurses, you will find that a lot of us are. All I'm saying is that it's possible to succeed as a new grad in the ICU.
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