Can I get opinions please?

[chele44]

I'm starting the second semester of my first year of an Assoc. program. I currently work as a nurse tech in the ICU. My intention was to start in this unit upon graduation. However, when I spoke with one nurse (of 20years), he thinks that new grads starting in the ICU isn't a good idea and that they need more training. What opinions are out there? This particular ICU is small (8 beds). Should I look to start off somewhere else? If so, where?

FYI...new grads get 3 months of training with a preceptor before going on their own.

Another FYI...I'm a 34 year old married woman with a toddler and one on the way, and I'm looking to start my career off right without wasting time but wanting to be the best I can be. THANKS FOR ANY RESPONSES!

[ukstudent]

Are there any new grads on the unit now? And if there is then how are they doing? Ask them if they think the orientation is good enough. It used to be that you had to have many years of experience before going to ICU, that is no longer true. A lot of older in years of experience nurses still believe that is the way it should be today. However, today a lot of new grads go straight into the ICU (like myself) and most do fine, some do not.

Some questions you should ask yourself -

Do the majority of nurses feel the same way as the nurse you talked about. Because if they do you will never make as a new grad there.

Will you have adequate established nurses to work with when you are off orientation. With a small unit if most of you are new and something bad occurs you need nurses around you that have seen and done everything.

These are just some things to think about. First you need to finish nursing school and being pregnant in one is never easy. Good luck.

[flaerman]

Unfortunately some of my older nurse compatriots will always believe that GN's don't belong in specialty areas, however they forget that they too were once brand new nurses as well(none of us are born with RN after our names). Do well in school and continue on as a tech in your unit, you are gaining invaluable experience and insight. Start asking other nurses questions, "why are we doing this?" or "how does this help?" etc. I was working ER a few years ago with a bright young man as a tech who went onto nursing school came out of school to the ER and did just fine, matter of fact much better than the GN we hired because of his years as a tech. So don't be disheartened, unless your maanager/director tells you they can't use GN's, let whatever this other nurse not bother you. Welcome to the wonderful world of nursing.:cheers:

flaerman

[Bonnie Nurse]

It does depend on the culture there in the unit. If all the nurses there have "decided" that new nurses don't belong there, then they will search for evidence to support what they already think. If you find that not to be the case, i say go for it. Some managers see value in starting out a new grad in a critical care unit. With proper training and mentoring, you should do fine. Expect to be on your toes and expect to be stressed. The status of your patients can change in the wind of an eye. One of my patients was fine at 1150, then heart rate and pressure dropped out at 1158. Constant observance is the key. You'll get there, but just as you would place good soil around a new plant, you need to find a good place for growth.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

My opinion is that is your institution offers new grads positions in ICU, has a good training program, and ICU is what you're interested in, then take it.

Why waste your time, your employers time, the other units time working somewhere else? So you orient to a med surg unit for three months, work another nine months to finish up your year, then you transfer to ICU for another 3 months or oritentation. If I were your employer I where's my incentive?

The big question is what is the program for new grads. Also if the coworkers and management isn't supporitive it might not be a good environment, because they are going to be watching you and with each slip up or question asked they are going to look for validation that you shouldn't be there.

These are people you know and hopfully have a good rapport with and my guess is they will be supportive of you and proud of you when you graduate and start working there.

Others disagree, especially those who did time in med-surg prior to ICU.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I agree with most of the posts above. A lot depends on the culture of the unit. If the unit is used to hiring new grads, has a strong orientation program, has reasonable expectations of them, etc. then there is nothing wrong with a new grad starting their career there. However, if the unit does NOT have strong support systems in place for new grads and/or has a culture that is not sufficiently nurturing of new grads, then you would be setting yourself up for an unnecessarily tough challenge to work there as a new grad. You'd probably be better off working on an adult med/surg unit for a little while first.

So ... what is your assessment of the unit's preparedness to hire new grads?

That's the real question.