Old nurse looking to get into the ICU, any tips?

Personally I don't give a flying crap whether the nurse I'm working with is male or female. What I have seen, though, is chips on the shoulders of some male nurses who feel they are discriminated against because of gender when, in actuality, there are other reasons why they are not particularly favored by other staff members, cockiness (no pun intended) being among the top factors. The person crying about "gender discrimination" is often using that as a smokescreen, IME. Hard to admit that the reason we really don't like working with you is because (eeeek) we REALLY DON'T LIKE WORKING WITH YOU. For whatever reason. And that reason is very unlikely to be related to your gender, based on (many more) years of evidence-based practice observations.
Some guys are just used to being the boss. It was the way they were raised, I guess---Mom deferred to Dad, sons took precedence over daughters. So when they enter what is still essentially a female-dominated profession (full of really STRONG females) they get knocked off kilter a bit it and pull the gender card to as rationalization when things don't go their way. It's easier than trying to figure out what's really going wrong.
Yep, we're all on the same team. But as with any other team, some are better players than others and it has nothing to do with the "equipment," LOL.
BTW, just my opinion here, but your applause for the derogatory statement made in a previous post regarding females is kinda lame.
That remark is in the same category as any generalization made about any group---females, males, older nurses, younger nurses, ethnic groups, races. In my book it falls under the heading of "STUPID."
Just my opinion, of course. YMMV.

Skipping classes because you're hung over is one thing, but call in sick to work and you're letting down not just your boss but your colleagues as well.

Yes, the ICU is hard work. You may run for 12 hours straight, lifting bariatric patients, pushing beds, holding folks over on their sides while you change a dressing on a wound big enough to stick your whole head into. It's difficult emotionally as you watch families keep a "loved one" alive, torturing them for months in an effort to keep the social security checks coming, or as you watch a young father with everything to live for dying. It's difficult intellectually as you try to figure out what's wrong with a patient who seemed fine an hour ago and is now tanking. It's difficult to be assertive when you're new and a physician is in your face screaming about how he wants this or that and you know it isn't possible to give him what he wants.

But if you want to try it, go for it. You've got a solid background in the basics, you can easily build on that background.

But if you want to try it, go for it.

I just applied for a position in the cardiac cath lab at a hospital. No, not ICU but I figure maybe I can get my foot in the door and become familiar with the surroundings at least. I've gotten so spoiled at the nursing home I feel guilty taking a check. I need to go back out in the real world. It will be a big scary change but I'm ready to take the bull by the horns.

Well, I've always wanted to work in a big hospital, but I spent my 20's and early 30's having and raising children. I'm 36 now, and I figure if I'm going to ever make a change I'd better grab it now, as time is running out fast.

I got a hospital job offer last year (renal transplant floor) but I couldn't take it because of family obligations. I'm getting old, I can't compete with these young 23 yr. old whippersnappers. Recruiters won't want me when they can have a spritely young thing who isn't saddled with a bunch of other responsibilities.

Indiana State has a critical care course and they advertise it as "a course to prepare a nurse to work in intensive care." I don't know if there would be any use in me taking it, though.

I've got a cushy job in management at a nursing home, but I don't really feel like it's taking me anywhere. I'm starting to feel trapped and owned by this job, and I can't stand that (though I do a lot of blood draws and port-a-cath flushes and I'm the one people go to when there is a problem with putting in a catheter or dealing with a PEG tube.) Still, I'm in such a tame position. My big project right now is revising and updating the policy and procedure manual, which I enjoy, but it isn't what I want to be doing 5 yrs. from now.

I would be doing a lot of hands on in an ICU, with a lot of excitement and I'm impressed with the level of knowledge it takes to work in critical care. Hospitals (I'm talking big city hospitals) are such exciting places buzzing with activity and full of smart (for the most part) people. I'd love to be a part of that activity. And, of course, I fantasize about applying for CRNA school in a few years (I was pretty good at math and science) but I realize that is more than likely a fantasy that will never come to fruition, but I've learned you have to have 3 things in life to keep going: hope, dreams and a future.

Anyhow, rambling aside, I would just like a change from my boring life. I have always wanted to work in a hospital, but due to family constraints I worked where it was most suitable for my family.