Baby nurse entering the land of "PICU"

[littlemo34]

Hey everybody, I would absolutely love to hear peoples advice for a new grad walking onto the PICU.

Just to tell you how new I am... I took boards June 20th and PASSED! Now I have this amazing opportunity to work in the PICU at an amazing facility. So to say the least I am a terrible mix of Excitement and Nerves which I know is to be expected... But I was wondering if anybody has any advice for someone in my position, any really good references that I should obtain etc.

Any tid bits would be valued!!! Thanks for your time

mo

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

There are many who have gone before you who've asked the same questions. Some of the replies can be found here:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f95/best-peds-picu-reference-books-219381.html

https://allnurses.com/forums/f95/precepting-fairly-new-nurse-220614.html

https://allnurses.com/forums/f95/new-grad-icu-217607.html

https://allnurses.com/forums/f95/new-picu-198029.html

https://allnurses.com/forums/f95/where-do-i-start-211869.html

https://allnurses.com/forums/f95/new-rn-new-site-starting-picu-monday-201577.html

https://allnurses.com/forums/f95/new-picu-rn-171625.html

https://allnurses.com/forums/f95/first-week-picu-174962.html

They should keep you busy for a while!

[Semele]

First of al, congrats on passing boards and entering the world of nursing. It will be a fun and exciting ride full of emotions. You have chosen wisely and you are very lucky to get a great position. You will be years ahea of your fellow grads who start out in med/surg.

I work in a unit that has a really good mix of experienced old timers as we call them and young fresh babies and the middle children of which I fall into. We work well together as the experienced nurses know all the ropes and tricks of the trade and they are more than willing to teach the newer blood that is offering them some relief from the overtime.

The one piece of advice I can offer is to ask questions constantly. Even if you are fairly certain you know what you are doing, asking advice of other nurses will build trust which is vital in the working environment.