Advice on backing out

"I have been in ICU now for 'x' number of months. Contrary to what I had envisioned, I have realized it is not a good fit for my nursing skill set. I have attempted 'a,b, and c' in hopes that would advance my skill to an appropriate level with little success. I would like to be considered to move back to the Med Surg unit".

Thx Jade! I'm not very good with words and what you just gave sounds so professional. Now I just have to come up with the a,b,c

Because you were a Med Surg nurse, I am sure that your critical thinking is top notch, and hence why you felt ICU a good fit. What type of questions were you asking? "I tried clinical observation, doing research on my off time to enhance my skills, and asking appropriate questions" just some thoughts--ICU does seem a bit overwhelming to think about :-) Best of luck!

How do you truly feel about your level of competence? What you describe here is not that you are having difficulty delivering quality care but you are overly concerned with what others are thinking or saying about you. This can happen anywhere.

As for being scared of the patient population, this takes time. Many ICU nurses say it takes up to 2 years before you really feel confident. And I would vouch for that.

Take a ceu program about a topic you'd like to learn more about - like arterial lines, or chest tubes, or lab values - and offer to share some of what you learned at a staff meeting. Become the 'go to' person on that topic. Soon, people will be coming to YOU with questions, and you will feel much better about yourself.

Best wishes, whatever you decide to do.

above are all good points, but if the staff issue is part of your decision then the manager needs to know about it. A good manager does not want to lose good nurses due to other staff.

You don't mention if this was a cross training program for you to be pulled to work in ICU? Is it one thing like ABG's or hemodynamic lines? Check out Staff Development, most have courses for ICU nurses, plus you can pick up CEUs. Otherwise, opt out gracefully, but expect the people in charge of training to ask more questions in hopes of improving the cross-training program.

I'd back up a step and have a heart to heart with my manager.

Tell him/her that you aren't feeling comfortable and would like some feedback on your performance. They may tell you that you're progressing as expected, or may come up with some recommendations or training that will bring you up to where you need to be.

If that doesn't work, you can always transfer later.

Also, if you have EAP benefits, you can always get more specific advice then.