Don't like the ICU...need advice!

[vzcookie]

Hey guys! I was hoping to reach out to the nursing community on here for some advice, preferably from ones who have been in my shoes and took steps to change their situation.

I have been in the surgical/trauma ICU for nearly 6 months and I am feeling miserable. I had about 4 years of med-surg experience prior to my transfer into the ICU, which I can sum up as having been a rewarding but tiresome experience. There was a point I reached where I just didn't want to take care of 6 patients at a time anymore. I thought moving into the ICU would be a challenge which I mentally was ready for.

But now, I realize that the ICU might not be for me. I feel like I am a very anxious person, and tend to freeze up under stress, even though I get through all those crappy days. The ICU has made me more anxious, in my opinion, from the type of patients/traumas I see to the people I work with. I feel that I am a soft, type B personality and I'm surrounded by sharks. Maybe I am stressing about the wrong things, but these thoughts exist, and they are mostly negative. I find myself having trouble even dealing with stress in my personal life.

So my question is, is this part of the ICU growing pains? Will it get better? Perhaps I will feel more comfortable over time, but will I begin to like the ICU? I don't feel this urge to dive in and learn all this stuff. My flight response certainly kicks in when things go south. And the drama and gossip! So unbearable! I'm a timid person and not a huge gossiper to begin with so this is torture! I care too much about what people think, and it effects my nursing care for sure.

I don't know what to do. I don't want to quit because so many people would kill to be in my shoes, but I am not happy these days. I am trying to make it through at least a year and move on, but it's getting tougher. They say you should do what you want in life, and I don't think this is for me, and I don't want to waste my time not looking into a different field. Is ICU nursing like this everywhere?

I apologize for sounding whiny or disheveled but these are just my feelings. I bet I'm not the only one out there who has made it to the ICU and dislikes it, right? Any advice or help counts.

Thanks a lot for reading.

[OCRN3]

I was in med/surg for many years too. I moved to ER, And Tele, and what I found out was that I wasn't too excited about always having something to do. In med/surg you get all your work done in the morning, then the rest of the day is just routine. Usually nothing crazy ever happened and if someone got sick we moved them out of the unit. When I moved to ER I knew I had to keep my eyes open for changes or anything that could come up through the docs orders. I never could finish my work because as soon as a bed was open I would get a new patient. I really missed my lower stress medsurg after trying different units though. I think that you might never get used to it unless you do for more time then medsurg. Remember that medsurg is your comfort zone so it is going to take a long while before you get comfortable.

[poppycat, ADN, BSN]

I went to NICU after doing 26 years of general Peds. Even with all those years of experience, I had a very steep learning curve in NICU. I didn't feel truly comfortable until I'd been there about 9 months. I had the anxiety you're talking about every minute during that time. One night I walked into work & discovered I didn't feel jittery. It seemed like things finally fell into place for me.

ICU isn't for everyone. If you don't feel comfortable there & you're not happy, it's ok to look for something else. Life is way to short to be unhappy.

[vzcookie]

what are both units (NICU and peds) like? it did cross my mind to switch populations altogether. I considered becoming a nurse midwife.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I want to congratulate you on your level of self-awareness and realization of exactly what it is about ICU that is not working for you. Actually, your observations about personality types is spot-on according to a lot of research that has been done on this issue. Nurses who are 'happy' in ICU tend to be assertive, confident & not conflict-avoidant. In fact, there has been at least one study (sorry, can't find the exact reference right now... if I can, I'll edit and add it) that found that female ICU nurses with androgynous personalities were happier than those with typically female personality types. So, I guess the 'sharks' descriptor might be sort of accurate. ED is a very similar environment.

I don't have any magical answers for you, but just wanted to assure you that you're not wimping out. Don't stay in an environment that makes you miserable. Life's just too short. Wishing you the absolute best of luck in finding your nursing niche.

[supernurse3177, ASN, BSN, LPN, RN]

Hi there!

I am wondering what you ended up doing? I am in the exact same situation as you were. I could have written this post. I miss MedSurg. I miss my stable patients. I miss the routine and I’m having such a hard time with my anxiety on the ICU. Did it get better?