Considering a Move to ED or NICU

Nursomancer, BSN, RN · Feb 13, 2016

Hello,

I'm a new grad that started in a small town Emergency Department about 6 months ago. I love it! I think going from Med Surg to the ER would be great. I have asked a few nurses at work who have transferred from the floor how they liked it and they have said that they feel more autonomous and enjoy it much better than their old position. I would recommend starting at a smaller hospital if you want to do ER for the first time. That way you won't get too overwhelmed while trying to learn the new flow of things. Even at the small town hospital where I'm at I still get to see plenty of "cool" stuff and sometimes we do get super busy and it can be overwhelming at times. But nothing I can't handle as a new grad. You can always transfer to a new/bigger hospital once you fell more comfortable.

bgxyrnf, MSN, RN · Feb 13, 2016

I went from the floor to the ED, as have several of my colleagues.

Much of the time, it's not all that different except that it takes awhile to get use to doing focused assessments and treatments rather than the more holistic approach on the floor. Our goal is to rapidly disposition the patient: Out the door or up the elevator...

Sometimes, though, it can be a real struggle because we're so pressed for time and we have multiple critical patients - something that I never experienced on the floor. Generally, I found the floor to offer a little more flexibility because, while I had a lot of things to do, I had some latitude regarding the order of their completion. In the ED I find myself more often having to choose the *most* right task on which to focus for the next 10 minutes... kinda like NCLEX questions. Much more often I find myself having to push back on the docs to force them to prioritize their requests. It's a much more dynamic environment, which suits me very well.

ED offers perhaps the most flexibility of any specialty... every hospital, big and small, has an ER/ED... and most of them are routinely looking for help in one form or another. With the right kind of ED experience, you can essentially land wherever you wish and find yourself some hours.

Jlwysong · Feb 24, 2016

I was a Med/Surg nurse for 8 years. A complicated pregnancy required me to take a light duty position and I was placed in the newborn nursery. I had the chance to do OJT in a NICU for 2 weeks and fell in love. I accepted a position in a NICU and was there for 23 years before retiring. It is a wonderful, stressful, stimulating, terrifying place to work. After 3 months orientation, I still felt like I didn't know enough, but I stuck with it and have had some great experiences. You will make bonds with the parents that will last for years, and if the hospital has NICU reunions, you will get to see the babies as they grow up and thrive and become great kids. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it in a heart beat. It is good to go in with years of nursing experience behind you, as it will make you appreciate the specialness of the unit. Not many nurses can say they are a NICU nurse.

KRVRN, BSN, RN · Feb 25, 2016

NICU nurses like to know lots of details about the pt's entire history and we like things neat and straight and clean. We don't generally like lack of control. Little poop.

Never worked ED but it sounds quite the opposite. More focused on the current problem and relevant details and no worries about a little mess. Lots of action is a plus. Varying sizes of poop.

So what kind of person are you?