I'm curious. Most of the people I went to school with want to be ICU or ER nurses. They've never worked in the ICU or the ER but that's all they want to do. I told one girl who refused to work anywhere else other than ICU to go into a nursing home if she needs a job. She refused it and it took her a few months to finally go into a nursing home. She quit after a month because of her standards. It's the same thing when it comes to med surg and psych nursing. It feels like many newer nurses look down upon any other nurses other than ER and ICU.
Another girl I know said she's wanted to work as a psych nurse forever, but when she was offered the ER position and psych position she took the ER position. I asked her why she chose ER over psych and she said she knows ER better. Now she complains about the work load from a trauma 2 hospital. I asked her why she didn't just transfer into psych since it's what she wanted and she didn't really give me a concrete answer just basically that she's stuck.
Does it feel that way to anyone else? When it comes to ER/ICU it feels like they only respect those specialties. Thanks!
ICU is glamorous? All I did my last shift was clean up poop. Seriously. We don’t have techs very often so we are responsible for total care. My patients were vented and on tube feeds. Only one had any drips. They both pooped all day long.
I wouldn’t say my nursing life is glamorous. I clean up poop and keep people “alive” longer than I should. I see every shift there are fates worse than death.
I am a new ED nurse. The only other thing I wanted to do was Peds ED. After my rotation there, I realized that only little people weren't the best option for me. I'm also realizing that I hate admitted patients. I cannot control Gramma Betty climbing out of her bed without a proper bed alarm because she thinks she's at home and has to pee when she has been admitted for 24 hours and shouldn't still be in the ER - while I'm totally distracted trying to save Grampa Don's life with blood and platelets and all sorts of drips because I don't have ICU beds either. I absolutely love working in the ER - I know its the right place for me. But right now, I'm a wound care nurse, a MS nurse, a psych nurse and every other kind of nurse - but I am luckily NOT a respiratory therapist. We have those and I'm thankful! I feel terrible every time I say "no, I'm sorry I don't have pillows down here. No, I'm sorry I don't have chapstick. No, I'm sorry we don't have a TV for you. No, I'm sorry you can't have a fan in here. I'm sorry your bed is so hard." I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
It isn't glamorous. Most days it isn't even fun. I don't understand why we get half of the patients that we have and we get them with little to no report. I see things that I don't understand, I file reports and I never get answers to my questions and I am usually left wondering if that patient made it or why they actually died.
I've always wanted to do psych or post-partum in school. My first job ended up being med-surg. I hated med-surg as a student but was just happy to get a job after numerous applications. I ended up liking it better than I did in school. Caring for 5-7 patients was alot, though. At this point, post-partum and even ICU were on my mind, as I floated to these units in my small rural hospital. I had a bad PP experience once (due to a father there) so it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. Though, I would have handled things differently now and just called security on him.
My second job was psych. I liked it at first then it got tedious. I think it was my particular role at the facility. I still love learning about psych meds and conditions. But, might look into PMHNP as an option in the future as I still find the field fascinating.
I work in med-surg stepdown now. I like it pretty well. But now I want to try either neuro or medical ICU. (Neuro stepdown would be great, but it is hard to find hospitals with this unit in my area.) I like digging deeper into meds, pathophysiology, and learning about new things I have not seen. I like the idea of two patients and providing them with great care.
When I was in school, people wanted Peds or PACU.
I recently decided if I were to do it all over again, I would have become a pharmacist.
It just makes me smile when people who have NO IDEA what goes on in any specialty, decide right out the gate what their destinies are. It's just part of the Aren't They Cute When They're Young syndrome. I can't hold it against them because I did the same. I was so sure that I wanted to be in psych but ended up in anesthesia after 10 years of a variety of jobs.
having worked in med/surg/ ED and sooo briefly in the ICU can I just say NONE of that is glamorous --- been in ED level 1 and level 3 trauma centers for 3 yrs I think this all comes from hollywood to be honest - shows usually take place in ICU/surgical ICU/ED/Trauma
yes in the ED/ICU you get into some high adrenaline situations - but none of it is glamorous - sometimes I feel like I do not even help anyone in the ED - they wait for hours upon hours on a hallway stretchy in a noisy ED - or you take care of a messy trauma who doesn't end up making it in a few days -- as for ICU - lots and lots of meticulous at times monotonous care for ICU care - lots of suctioning/turning/peri care etc. - also not glamorous
(maybe this is the burnout talking) I say work where you WANT to work - forget what the media or what people think- non-nurses- non-healthcare people have NO clue what we do - they cannot even fathom it - nursing students don't even know what they want! I thought I wanted to do NICU/L+D Now I literally CRINGE at any tiny baby/ pregnant/laboring woman in the ED I pray she doesn't give birth in the ED. point being EVERYWHERE has its pros/cons... work where makes you happy and every speciality deserves respect! I wish we all got it but we don't
So many good points! Work where you can have as much peace with yourself and peace with your life in general. Nursing is not glamorous in general....in fact....most of the time, I come home and go to bed from sheer exhaustion after work.....whether at the ED or at pre-op. I have no regrets at all of going into nursing or the experience in the ED or now the experience in pre-op and PACU but I have never felt that nursing is glamorous....most of the time I just feel exhausted especially with the whole covid situation. But I love taking care of patients and making their lives a little easier and also getting to know my coworkers and building a team.
They seem exciting at first, but most people who go into those specialties never stay. a lot of people get annoyed/bored/burnt out.
as a current ER nurse, I’m glad for the opportunities that it provides for my future. But no way will I be staying. I’m ready for a Monday-Friday job! Long term I plan on going rural.
M-F sounds good but working 5 days per week is not all it’s cracked up to be when you’ve been used to working 3 days per week. I’ve done both and M-F feels like I’m always working and never get enough time off. When I was working 12 hrs, I worked 6 in a row so that I could have 8 days off at a time. Wish I could go back to that.
As for the topic at hand, I spent 11 years in the ER right out of school because I loved relative chaos of the ER and the constant turnover of patients, until personal circumstances forced me to quit working for awhile in 2018. I will always miss it, but I’m also glad not to be working in the hospital any longer now that COVID has arrived on the scene. I can’t imagine doing what I used to do with all of the PPE that’s constantly required now. I still have to wear a mask in my current position but it’s not nearly as restricting as it would be in the ER. I feel for all the nurses that are working anywhere in a hospital right now.
Stop worrying about others. What difference does it make to you what speciality someone else wants to work? This is their life and their job. It takes a village as they say. I'm sure you didn't go out and ask everybody what they thought you should do the rest of your life. Nursing is hard- let people do what they want. Complain? Yup- we call complain at times. Nursing is HARD, especially if you're doing it right.
I've done med/surg tele, Neuro stepdown, and Medical ICU- I do think my previous experience has helped in the ICU but I surely wouldn't begrudge someone else for what they want to do with their life. It's hard enough to be happy in this world- Let's stop tearing people down and instead, lift them up. They wanna be an ED nurse- help them be a BETTER ED nurse. ?♂️
From my experience seeds are planted early in nursing school. Many students feel they learn the most in ICU and ED in time management, triaging of conditions, pharmacology, and procedures. Not to mention MS doctors from what I can see tend to hide A LOT on the floors. MS is a great place to work and is currently tied for ICU as highest paid travel position. Unfortunately often times students that I have met feel they are only taught to pass medications like a robot with no real understanding of where they are in the patient care process. Learning to nurse with relatively stable patients is great but unless nurses on those units, preceptors, nursing instructors can show the benefits of working MS it’ll be second fiddle.
Specializes in 8 years Telemetry/Med Surg, 5 years Stepdown/PCU.
I’ve worked in Med-Surg, Stepdown, corrections, home health, Case management,& clinic since I’ve been a nurse. I enjoyed MS as it taught me so much as a new grad, but I grew tired of the rat race and went to Stepdown. I love stepdown. The drips etc, I’m here for it. I do find myself growing bored and was about to transfer to ER, then Covid hit. So I’ll continue with Stepdown for now. Correctional nursing was another one of my favs. There is so much autonomy there
I worked in ICU for 15+ years primarily because the staffing was better. Looking back, I would say my temperament was not suited to the ICU. It is my experience that ICU/ER nurses who are comfortable for the long-run in those environments are wired a bit differently; a bit more like race horses who like "drips, drugs and lines." Some of the procedures are very invasive and need to be accomplished quickly; crash intubation, resuscitation, line insertions, etc. One must be self-confident and knowledgeable talking with Intensivists as well. You need to trust your gut and assessment skills as you are advocating for very ill/fragile patients.
My knowledge of pathophysiology increased dramatically and I was very comfortable with the MD's but I struggled with some of the invasive procedures. I also developed a bit of OCD from needing to move quickly without the time to properly double-check, ie., grabbing bags of highly potent drugs or IV's such as dopamine/ lidocaine/norepinephrine etc.
I don't discourage RN's from working in ICU, just know it is called Intensive Care for a reason. Secret...Once you have ICU experience you can work in PACU which I LOVED.
They are definitely glamorized ... I'll stick with med/surg! I still have to go to all the other floors to start their IVs, and just within the last few weeks I've had to go to the ER to show a nurse how to put on a colostomy bag (she's worked there for over 20 years), and I've had to go to surgical ICU to place a Foley and to the medical ICU to place a Foley - both times neither the primary nor the charge nurse could get it in ?♀️. I don't know Jack about titrating critical drips, but I like using my skills.
Why do we still wonder why new grads want to work in ICU or ED when floor nursing has a reputation for being understaffed and doesn’t peak the interest of many people? I knew when I was in school 5 years ago that I didn’t want to do floor nursing but did it to “develop skills”. Yes I’ve learned a lot, but I’ve spent years doing jobs I don’t love (love my coworkers but not the work) knowing I wanted to transfer into critical care. Although I’ve learned a ton and I value my experience, I feel burned out even before COVID. Caring for an absurd amount of patients makes us feel like nothing more than pill pushers working to check off boxes on a to do list rather than deliver nursing care. We’re trained for so much more than what floor nursing allows in most states and it’s morally injurious to want to provide great care but can’t because you’re just stretched too thin, even for the best time managers.
Why do we still wonder why new grads want to work in ICU or ED when floor nursing has a reputation for being understaffed and doesn’t peak the interest of many people?
In part because the ED is no posh place where there are tons of resources either. It's chaotic and can be at least as demoralizing as any other area of nursing has the potential to be.
As to why the subject matter in M/S might not pique the interest of a new nurse--that's much more curious to me. There is plenty going on there, it heavily involves real, actual, hands-on traditional bedside nursing care. Opportunities for teaching, for rapport-building, for honing communication skills...in addition to the other nuts and bolts of it.
So taking these two things together it really does seem that a certain contingent of people just want to be where things are wildly reputed to be either adrenaline-filled or over-the-top exciting or big-shot in some way. Because anyone with a realistic view of things knows they aren't really all that. And anyone with a realistic view of things understands that there is plenty going on in med surg and lots of other areas.
bitter_betsy, BSN
456 Posts
I am a new ED nurse. The only other thing I wanted to do was Peds ED. After my rotation there, I realized that only little people weren't the best option for me. I'm also realizing that I hate admitted patients. I cannot control Gramma Betty climbing out of her bed without a proper bed alarm because she thinks she's at home and has to pee when she has been admitted for 24 hours and shouldn't still be in the ER - while I'm totally distracted trying to save Grampa Don's life with blood and platelets and all sorts of drips because I don't have ICU beds either. I absolutely love working in the ER - I know its the right place for me. But right now, I'm a wound care nurse, a MS nurse, a psych nurse and every other kind of nurse - but I am luckily NOT a respiratory therapist. We have those and I'm thankful! I feel terrible every time I say "no, I'm sorry I don't have pillows down here. No, I'm sorry I don't have chapstick. No, I'm sorry we don't have a TV for you. No, I'm sorry you can't have a fan in here. I'm sorry your bed is so hard." I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
It isn't glamorous. Most days it isn't even fun. I don't understand why we get half of the patients that we have and we get them with little to no report. I see things that I don't understand, I file reports and I never get answers to my questions and I am usually left wondering if that patient made it or why they actually died.
There certainly are fates worse than death.