PICU staffing question

Specialties PICU

Published

Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.

I'm a NICU nurse, but recently floated to PICU. Our unit is slow, so i'm thinking about picking up extra time in the PICU. Is it common for PICU's to have a high turn-over and burn-out rate? Also, is it common to be short-staffed a lot? The PICU where I work is a 6 bed unit and they have trouble staffing it. They look very busy. I am willing to help out with the 2 yr. and younger pt.'s, but i'm also a little nervous about their staffing and management issues....but I also need to work!

Thanks

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

Maybe you could ask around the unit and see what the staff there thinks. There certainly can be a lot of turnover, particularly if there are issues with how the unit is managed. Some units have a bad habit of hiring a lot of very green nurses all at once into their high-acuity, frenetic workplaces and then throwing them to the wolves, so to speak... a-warm-body-with-a-pulse attitude. Then the nurses burn out and jump ship. leaving the unit back at square one. If the unit is chronically short staffed, the problem becomes circular. The staff works a lot of over time, they get tired and sick, the unit gets even more short-staffed and so on. Unsafe assignments can be as debilitating as over time too. I'd suggest asking for a casual shifts orientation (a couple of shifts would be enough to form an opinion) and then decide if it's something you can do. One caveat... you might not be able to count on only having tiny patients.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
Maybe you could ask around the unit and see what the staff there thinks. There certainly can be a lot of turnover, particularly if there are issues with how the unit is managed. Some units have a bad habit of hiring a lot of very green nurses all at once into their high-acuity, frenetic workplaces and then throwing them to the wolves, so to speak... a-warm-body-with-a-pulse attitude. Then the nurses burn out and jump ship. leaving the unit back at square one. If the unit is chronically short staffed, the problem becomes circular. The staff works a lot of over time, they get tired and sick, the unit gets even more short-staffed and so on. Unsafe assignments can be as debilitating as over time too. I'd suggest asking for a casual shifts orientation (a couple of shifts would be enough to form an opinion) and then decide if it's something you can do. One caveat... you might not be able to count on only having tiny patients.

I got an ear-full about how the management hasn't been good for a while...and they are chronically short staffed. I know I can't always count on 2 yrs. or younger, I'll ask them what kind of pt's they have before accepting an assignment. I never do anything I'm not comfortable with. I haven't cared for older pt's for 16 years...I've floated occasionally, but that's it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

It sounds like a place I'd want to stay away from.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
It sounds like a place I'd want to stay away from.

Well, I figure if I helped out, they will have better staffing!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment