can I go back to the floor yet?

[simbaman]

Six months ago I switched to the ICU from the floor. Im not impressed. After being a floor nurse for five years I thought I had a good understanding of what being a nurse was like, but the ICU is a whole new and challenging world. My shifts are either really easy or completely terrible. My pair is either floor pts with a drip or O2 requirement keeping them off the floor or absolute train wrecks that will destroy you. I seriously never know what to expect. Every night my back hurts from the heavy lifting and I'm just tired from the anxious feeling I get in the ICU.

The truth is, I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE FLOOR. I know that sounds crazy. Most nurses I work with in the ICU would die if they had 6-8 patients. I personally truly miss the speed and flow of the floor. i miss going to work and having a pretty good idea what to expect. will it look terrible on my resume if i transfer back to the floor at one year? I feel so bad my hospital has spent 1000s of dollars on ICU classes and orientation. They taught me ACLS, dialysis, and want me to get oncology certified in june but I'm honestly just dreading that. Any nurse on here transfer to the floor from the ICU? Am I the only nurse who actually enjoys the floor? I appreciate any type of feedback.

[llg, PhD, RN]

If you want to go back, go back. There may be a few hard feelings, but they shouldn't be outrageously bad. ICU is not for everyone and they know that. You're certainly not the first nurse to give it a try and decide that it is not for you. The education and experience you have received over the past 6 months will help make you a better general med/surg nurse -- and they will probably be very happy to have you back.

[simbaman]

Thanks for the feedback. I know my old floor will take me back. I still pick up there as a charge/floor nurse once a week just for fun. I hate that the ICU is gonna take such a financial burn on this whole thing. In the last 6 months they spent at least 12000 on my training.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Thanks for the feedback. I know my old floor will take me back. I still pick up there as a charge/floor nurse once a week just for fun. I hate that the ICU is gonna take such a financial burn on this whole thing. In the last month they spent at least 12000 on my training.

Even though the floor would welcome you back, you might experience a 'delay' in your transfer from ICU. It happens.

[indish]

I started on medsurg, moved on to ICU, then to cardiac intervention, then back to medsurg, now in PACU. That is the beauty of nursing, many jobs within the job. I would say though that it took me a good year to get used to ICU then worked about ten years at it before moving and changing to cardiac. You might want to give it more time and see how you feel. Med surg made me a great ICU nurse and ICU made me a great med surg nurse. Ultimately you know where your heart is leading

[caliotter3]

Better for you to go back as your own choice than to get canned from the ICU because your supervisors say you didn't cut it there. Buck it up and talk to your manager. Go with their flow as far as a timeline for leaving, as long as it is reasonable.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Better for you to go back as your own choice than to get canned from the ICU because your supervisors say you didn't cut it there. Buck it up and talk to your manager. Go with their flow as far as a timeline for leaving, as long as it is reasonable.

This.

If you really want out of the ICU, then talk to you manager and let them know before they drop any more on training you.

However, don't expect that you'll be back on m/s tomorrow. It will take time for you to transfer over...assuming that you CAN transfer. Just because you're able to pick up the odd m/s shift doesn't mean there's a open FT spot waiting for you to return to. They may have to create one or, if they can't, wait for one to be vacated.

Talk to both your ICU manager and your old m/s manager and let them both know your intentions.

Best of luck!

[nutella, MSN, RN]

I want to point out that when you transition from floor to ICU there is not only a steep learning curve, it can also take more than a year to feel "comfortable" depending on the ICU. It sounds that the place also does CVVHD, which usually indicates that the population you are seeing is probably on the sicker side. Some ICUs are not super acute but some ICUs have very sick patients with a variety of technology attached to them, drips to no end, and a change can happen quickly. It sounds that you are doing overall well but you are not comfortable being uncomfortable and that you like to multitask whereas the ICU is usually very detail oriented and a different flow (I worked in both settings).

I would say that if your ICU is high level, it takes probably 2 years in total to feel comfortable and ok. After one year you are probably at a point where you can handle routine stuff without anxiety and have encountered a lot of situations. But it takes probably 2 years to feel competent to the degree that anxiety related to work lessens significantly.

Perhaps it is worth looking a bit closer at what the root is. If it is mostly the discomfort related to anxiety and how you handle "discomfort" but otherwise you are ok with your work, perhaps you want to see if you can work on that and wait it out longer.

If you feel that everything is not what you want and you know you will be happier on the floor, perhaps going back will be best for you.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Before you make a change like this, do some soul searching and make sure you aren't engaging in a "grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" cycle. If the floor is TRULY your passion and not just resistance to being out of your comfort zone, then go ahead and have this talk with your manager before they invest any more resources in you.

[simbaman]

Thanks for the input and encouragement guys. I wrote this 2 months ago and truly feel a whole lot better about the ICU now. I had a review with my ICU manager and preceptor who said I was doing just what was expected. I started praying to God that he could help me find purpose and contentment in ICU work and i think i am starting to find my rhythm gain. Thanks again all nurses.

[NurseCard, ADN]

Good for you! :)

[sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN]

If I you enjoy and are great on the floor, I so salute you, To me as it was literally what I began doing on the very same day, that I graduated.......acute care was me I started in CCU , cvicu, ER..... I detest, as in I found it difficult to do med surge even for a brief time.......

good floor nurses are needed and I so admire how you do what you do........even with 45+ yrs experience I find it daunting, and so admire nurses that can...