Hello All, let me just start out by saying I love this site because there are so many experienced nurses out there willing to give great advice. That being said I would like some input from wound care nurses. I am currently working in critical care and this is all I've ever known. I graduated from nursing school in Dec 2013 and went directly into the Intensive Care Unit (basically thrown to the wolves) and this is where I have been for the past 1.5 years. I just earned my BSN this past May so I am looking for a change to a better environment. The facility I work at is one of those "despicable" hospitals (for anybody who hasn't read that article on this site, its a great read, I identified all too well with the nurse in the illustration). Things are only getting worse, and I am frustrated because I feel I have hit a wall and I am not learning anything new. The physician/nurse communication isn't all that great and there is a huge disrespect for nurses that borders on contempt at times when it comes to some of the physicians who have been there forever. Our facility is about to be purchased by a mystery company yet they keep putting off the announcement as to who is actually purchasing us and I think it is because there are some pending indictments. I just can't keep waiting for this company to get it together. I don't think I hate critical care, I think I just hate working in a place where nurses don't get any support. Our hospital caters to the physicians and patients and could care less if they run their nursing staff into the ground and create unsafe situations for patients (for which the nurse will ultimately be blamed).
I applied for a wound care position at another company with the intention of just doing PRN to get my feet wet and see if I like it. However, after talking with the recruiter for the second time she says they want to interview me for a full-time inpatient position with the understanding that I would eventually get certified in wound care, and they are willing to give me all the training I need (which is why PRN would never work, too much training needed). I have always thought of doing wound care, and of course in an ICU we see some nasty wounds (surgical wounds, pressure ulcers, venous stasis ulcers etc) so I have a tad bit of experience with wounds but nothing on the level of a professional wound care nurse. The job would be 8-4:30 Mon-Fri so it would take up more time (I'm used to working 3 twelves and getting my shifts over with and having several days off in a row). I need to know if what I am being offered is one of those opportunities that only comes once, and if I should jump on it or not. I love medication administration and critical thinking and titrating drips. I think I will miss this aspect of nursing if I go into wound care, yet I enjoy the idea of having more opportunities to educate patients, and develop a plan for how to treat them and monitor their progress. I think it would be very fullfilling. In the ICU I work nights and so I totally miss the patient education aspect most of the time (patient's sleeping, or vented/sedated no visitors around), also I don't have the freedom to discuss the patient with the physician because at night you can't just call them to discuss something none emergent without getting fussed at. I am still trying to get a grasp on my basic clinical skills, still trying to develop that nursing judgment and I just wonder if I am going to forget all that clinical stuff I have worked so hard to develop by switching to strictly wound care. With the schedule they are saying i would have to work I am sure I couldn't even stay on PRN in the ICU.
I would love to hear some input. Especially from someone who has been in my situation. Thanks in advance.
