Resource Recommendation - new in ICU

Specialties Critical

Published

Specializes in Medical -Surgical PCU.

I currently work Med-Surg/progressive care at a community hospital, we also have a very small ICU. Recently I have begun cross-training to work in the unit. There is no formal training program and I had one day of 'actual' training before being assigned over there. Our charge nurse and the other ICU nurse are very helpful in the moment, but I would like to do some further studying on my own.

I have been looking at Amazon for reference books and am thinking that a CCRN study text may be a good idea. Any suggestions on a particular title(s)? ANY suggestions on working the ICU would be fabulous! I want to be as competent as possible.

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I think a CCRN book might be a little over your head at the moment since this is the first time you have worked in critical care. Does the ICU not have an orientation handbook they give to their new hires? I'd be shocked if they didn't. If they do not have any resources for you here are some good books: Critical Care Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, this book breaks down critical care into extremely simple, easy to understand concepts and would be great for a new ICU nurse; The ICU Book by Paul L. Marino, covers not only disease processes but how to prevent exposures, give blood, electrolyte imbalances, etc.; any book on interpreting EKGs as this is pretty important in the ICU since you are the first line of defense for your patient. Also, talk with the respiratory therapists. They have so much knowledge not on just ventilators but on respiratory illnesses, etc. And you can get to know what vent modes are used most often and how to increase/wean vent settings.

I have been a nurse in a Surgery-Trauma ICU at a Level I Trauma Center (Inner City) Teaching Hospital for 7 years. Nurses, doctors, NPs, and RTs are a great wealth of knowledge that should definitely be tapped into. Also, they probably can give you some good reading material references. Also, look at your local library or see if the ICU has critical care reference books sitting around. If you need any info I can PM you some material from my unit's orientation packet covering vents, acid-base balance, Swans, etc. Just let me know. Good luck!

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Specializes in Medical -Surgical PCU.

Dukeblue002 Thank you for the reply. No, there is not a handbook, I fully agree that there should be. Let me explain the situation a little better: We have 24 beds on our floor - 20 med-surg beds and 4 ICU beds. The same nurses (once they are 'cross trained') alternate between floor and unit assignments. They often don't know which area they will work until they show up for work that day. Their idea of training is making sure that we know how to do the paper charting and q2h assessments. I was told that the rest will ''come with time". I have been on this floor for over a year so am not a new hire.

The RTs are great and a couple of them are very willing to teach. They absolutely will (and have been) be a go to resource for me.

I had considered the 'Made Easy" book, just was not sure if it would be thorough enough, but I definitely will check out the books that you listed. Your resources would be very welcomed, unfortunately under this profile I do not have enough posts to be allowed to send a PM, I may be able to receive them though. My previous profile had to be discarded due to being too identifiable.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

Great advice from dukeblue!

Maybe also check in your area and see if any of the bigger hospitals offer any ICU education classes. Or maybe you could find something not affiliated with a hospital, but a CEU class or the like. I'm assuming you would have to pay for them yourself (sincere hospital apparently hasn't made ICU education a priority), but hearing a lecture is very helpful if you're an auditory learner.

Also, the Barnes and Noble by me has a little quick reference book for ICU nursing in their nursing/medical reference section. It's maybe 3×5" or 4×6", and maybe an inch thick, with section-divider tabs and spiral binding. But it has a lot of info brokendown by body system, common labs and normal values, (I think) common drugs/drips used in ICUs, etc.

I can't agree with him/her enough about picking your RRTs' and MDs' brains (during slower times, of course!) They are a wealth of knowledge! Probably the biggest difference between floor and ICU is the need to look at many different puzzle pieces, and determine what the pt needs. Not that you don't look holistically at a pt now, but often more things (e.g. body systems) become affected with critical illness. Plus, you're simply better equipped to look from all of these different angles in the ICU, because m/s pt ratios make it very difficult.

Enjoy this new challenge!

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Specializes in ICU.

I love Fast Facts for Critical Care by Kathy White. It's meant to be kept with you at work (not meant to be a textbook). You can find it at http://www.kathywhite.com

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg.

Look at Mark Hammerschmidt's website: www. icufaqs.org -- index It's easy to read and has a ton of info.

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Specializes in Medical -Surgical PCU.

Thank you all so much! I appreciate the suggestions and will look into all of them. I love this site!

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