i had a couple Qs about nursing..

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Hi, my name is jen, i'm 16 and i'm planning on going into a nursing carreer after i graduate. I'm thinking either neonatal intensive care, or pediatric intensive care. I was just wandering whats the difference between ICU and CC?

Also, how much do ICU and CC nurses make per year? I luve in California and don't want to go out of state for college, so does anyone know what the best nursing colleges are in california? How long do i have to be in college to be an ICU nurse? How much would tuition be (aprox)?

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CC? You mean CCU? ICU takes any pt needing intensive nursing care with any medical source. CCU is cardiac intensive care, they do cardiac patients only.

How much you make depends on your facility and whether or not it's unionized. Tuition depends on the institution and if you are going for a BSN versus ADN.

Length of time in college has nothing to do with being an ICU nurse or any other nurse for that matter. It's training. Some hospitals will take new grads right into specialty units and train intensively. Others require that all nurses have general care experience before transferring to critical care.

Best schools: depends on where you are in CA.

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by CC i meant critical care. but yah your answers helped a bit, so thanks =)

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Specializes in critical access, including ER.

First off, I wish you the very, very best in your future career!! You go, girl!!!;) ;) ;) ;)

Second, do any of the medical facilities near where you live offer a "summer shadowing program"?? Our little hospital/clinic is thinking of instituting one where a high school junior or senior can shadow a healthcare worker, whether it be radiology, lab, nursing or one of our "providers"!!! This is one way that can help you in definitely making a choice about where you eventually wanna end up!!! Good luck to you and stick to it!!

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Okay, critical care is a term that encompasses different units: ICU, OR/Recovery, ER.....any unit where patients need close monitoring and some type of life support, be it medications and/or machines. There are even different types of ICUs: surgical, neurological, cardiac, pediatric, neonatal (newborns). These nurses need certifications not required in non-critical units. The certs are not obtained while in nursing school, they're obtained as necessary and we have to re-cert every few years.

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And don't forget, it is most likely that your pay will not be any higher in a critical care unit than on a general unit....some hospitals will pay a few pennies per hour more for specialty certification, but not all.

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