I canceled my shift this morning...

That's a real bummer. I know how you feel about the opportunity part and with this change of assignments to less acute patients. you lose some of the more critical experience you could gain from taking on more complex patients. Honestly, I've approached my manager about taking on more responsibility in our MRICU and he was very receptive (I'm just graduating this spring and I work as an extern). However, I would strongly encourage you to speak with your manager in confidence and express your concerns. After all, you still have 3 months there and might as well gain more experience points to better prepare you for your next job position. Good luck!

There are so many patients on my unit who aren't ICU patients! I'm sick of the call light going off all the time and other nurses are saying the same thing.

If you happen to have an ICU pt with hourly fingersticks and titrating cardiac gtts along with a tele pt who's on the call light every 5-10 minutes, it's really frustrating.....

Two non-ICU patients who are stable? That sounds like a good day to me.
Personally, I love those sort of patients; it feels like nursing school to get everyone up in the chair and keep them comfortable and do some patient teaching.
I invest the extra time left over in helping my co-workers who have heavier assignments.

If you decide to talk to your manager, I would suggest not saying this...

Because I think we know what you mean, in that you're looking for more challenge and acuity. But any patient assignment holds opportunity and possibility for learning something new. It probably won't be received very well in your quest for more challenge. I understand from a management and budgetary standpoint that it would be hard to justify further investment in someone who is leaving soon after they started. Are there opportunities to help other co-workers with care and procedures to gain more learning opportunities? Honestly, though, you might have to ride out these last couple months and just give your best to the patients you care for. Wishing you luck in your next position!

Well, you can transfer to a m/s floor where you can take care of 8 such pts instead.

We used to say, "why is this patient coming here?" Now with all the downstaffing, we say, "Please send that patient here!" In this economy, we are grateful to have our jobs.

You may need to go to a trauma ICU to get the acuity of pts you want.

I'm suprised insurances haven't put a stop to non ICU patients.

Nothing is guaranteed in nursing. You can have bad patients on the floor, or good patients in ICU. Care for them all with the enthusiasm you would a critical care patient. They will be grateful. Like a previous poster said, sometimes it is a relief to have a non critical patient.

Calling off a shift because you are mad at acuity, not good, you are in for many stressful days.

whoever said, offer to help someone who has a heavy assignment is right on. If their assignment is heavy, chances are they have a critically ill patient. You can learn a ton this way and be present for some pretty cool stuff and learn a ton. Had to do this all the time when I was new and had the thirst for adrenaline that the "really sick ones" bring, but didn't have the clout yet to get the assignments I wanted. Best part... if its not your patient, you get to skip most of the rotten charting.

You are probably not going to change your situation in the last couple of months, but a wise person once told me (when I had easy patients and was volunteering to be tripled all of the time), remember... any one of your patients could go south at anytime... thats why they are here.

I totally know how you feel in caring for non-ICU pts, it drives me crazy........I work in an NICU and I want vented pts with arterial lines, and multiple drips, I want to calculate mini drug dosages and do the works. I change diapers, and do vital signs, and administer vitamins and Iron gtts. But I have come to realize that, that is the way of the ICU, or in my case the NICU. I have time to study and learn about my pts diasnosis and time to spend with the pts and their families teaching. I am able to empower my pts families with knowledge about their diagnosis and have time to spend talking to them, and I have found that I really like it. And you know what the pts/family really appreciate it. And a good way to think about it is, Knowledge is power, and if you can spend the time with these pts you may very well be saving a life, or a future ICU admission. Another good way of looking at this situation is that it gives you a great opportunity to learn a great/thorough assessment and you never know you may find an important clinical assessment finding that may have been missed. This dry non-ICU pt period will not last and before you know it you will be caring for a critical pt and actually wish for an easy pt. Good Luck!!

The OP may be hurting his/her career by taking this attitude with the manager. As others have pointed out, there is always the possibility of learning. A nurse is hired to take care of the patients assigned -- not being paid to "go to school." Being unwilling to do your job because they don't meet your particular learning desires will get you a bad reputation, a not-so-good job evaluaition, and perhaps a "not eligible for rehire" in your personnel file when you leave. Future potential employers may see that and pick someone with a more positive attitude for the jobs that you apply for in the future.