Can I be an ICU nurse if I came from an ortho floor?

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  1. What floor would be best fit to become an ICU nurse?

    • 2
      Medical surgical
    • 1
      Orthopedic

3 members have participated

Hi everyone! I have a delimma here. I just had 3 offers, 2medsurg floor and an ortho unit. I really wanna be an ICU nurse in the future. I surveyed 3 units today and I find ortho unit the most favorable. My question is that if I can still be an ICU nurse after being in orthofloor? Because I heard they accept nurses from medsurgical floor mostly. Is there anyone here that came from ortho to ICU? Pls share your insights. And for anyone I would love to here from you! Best regards!

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I worked with 2 nurses that transferred into ICU from ortho. It can be done.

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Thank you so much for the reply ICUman, is it better If I came from medsurg floor than the ortho unit tbough? Did you go straight to ICU or from medsurg floor?

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I started ICU as a new grad. I am inclined to say med/surg might be more beneficial clinically, as those skills will be utilized more often in ICU, but maybe not. The ortho nurses I mentioned did just fine in their transition. If I were you, I'd find out what the ICU nurse manager at your hospital prefers, and balance that with which unit will make you happiest and most successful.

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Congrats!! You're in a great position! Disclaimer: I'm not an ICU nurse but I'm in a sort-of similar situation. I'm also thinking of eventually going into critical care and would have done so if I didn't have to relocate to a new country. Not that I'm complaining: I get to work in an amazing city at a great hospital. And no more long-distance relationship :) But I'm digressing.

I worked on a ortho-trauma unit to start with. I really enjoyed working with the orthopedic patients and I learned a lot about geriatrics through them. However, they tended to be more stable and predictable patients. The trauma and off-service patients were the ones that I learned the most from (and got the most excited about working with). I'd say, if salary and working environments are comparable, I would probably start with a general med-surg position. You'll have a variety of patients to expand your knowledge-base, which is not totally the case on an ortho unit. I would also consider which job offer is attached to a teaching hospital/one that has an ICU. Hope this helps and good luck!

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Happens all the time. I'm an ICU nurse at a large hospital and I came from a neuro/ortho floor. There is going to be a high learning curve no matter what background you come from. I honestly don't think the ICU manager will care which background you came from.

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But the floor I was offered is orthopedic , joint and spine. Its not trauma. Does it matter?

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Happens all the time. I'm an ICU nurse at a large hospital and I came from a neuro/ortho floor. There is going to be a high learning curve no matter what background you come from. I honestly don't think the ICU manager will care which background you came from.

The job offered is ortho/joint and spine. Its not ortho/neuro. Will this matter?

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I started ICU as a new grad. I am inclined to say med/surg might be more beneficial clinically, as those skills will be utilized more often in ICU, but maybe not. The ortho nurses I mentioned did just fine in their transition. If I were you, I'd find out what the ICU nurse manager at your hospital prefers, and balance that with which unit will make you happiest and most successful.

Did your floor accept medical surgical overflow? The job offered to me is ortho/jointandspine. And not trauma. :(

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I started ICU as a new grad. I am inclined to say med/surg might be more beneficial clinically, as those skills will be utilized more often in ICU, but maybe not. The ortho nurses I mentioned did just fine in their transition. If I were you, I'd find out what the ICU nurse manager at your hospital prefers, and balance that with which unit will make you happiest and most successful.

Thanks for the insight ICU man

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The job offered is ortho/joint and spine. Its not ortho/neuro. Will this matter?

No I don't think it will matter.

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

I work on an ortho floor with no spine/neuro. If you can do that you will be fine. We get all kinds of off service pts and pts with lots of comorbidities. Ortho is never "just" ortho. My unit is an intermediate care so if I wanted to do ICU, I would need ACLS and some other things, but if it is an internal transfer, it should not be a problem. A good nurse is a good nurse. Good Luck!!!!! I hope you like ortho :) I love it.

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