Any ICU nurses come from med/surg?

[healthcare4life]

Hi guys,

I have been an RN for about a year now and am on the med/surg floor. I float to tele at times. Would really love to be an ICU nurse, specifically in the CVICU setting.

Anyone go into ICU straight from med surg? If so, how was your experience?

Thanks for any input! :)

[Lennonninja, MSN, APRN, NP]

I spent my first year on a renal med surg floor, and then moved to a neuro-medical ICU. My med surg background taught me about time management and the basics of nursing, and that helped when I became an ICU nurse because I already knew how to BE a nurse, now I just needed to add in the ICU skills. I think that it was beneficial to me, and it helps me appreciate my current job even more. And, when I have to transfer someone to med surg now, I know how busy they are so I try to do as much as humanly possible for them before sending the patient so that it's an easier transfer. Going from med surg to ICU can definitely be done :) I had to switch hospitals though because my old hospital seemed to prefer to keep med surg nurses in med surg and not let them transfer to ICU because of how short med surg always was.

[LNRN11]

I did! It's totally doable! :) I worked M/S for about ten months. I was on orientation with a preceptor for two months when I transferred to CV. It was actually the perfect amount of time, too. I was a little worried it wouldn't be long enough, but towards the end of my orientation, I had had plenty of open heart cases to prepare me to take them on my own. My charge nurses were great too about keeping a close eye on the newbie nurses and always being right there when you need them. Good luck! Hope you love it as much as I do!