ED or ICU?????

[EDnurse2009]

Hello. I am a new grad nurse that needs some advice from some experienced nurses. I have been fortunate enough to have two job offers for my first nursing job. I truly see myself as an ED nurse, I have been a bartender for years and enjoy a fast-paced environment.

Now it is time to choose which job. One offer is for a busy ED at a smaller hospital, pay and benefits are ok. The other offer is for the ICU at a large teaching hospital, which pays considerably more and has great benefits. Both hospitals have wonderful new grad RN programs.

If I decide to go with the ICU job, will this be good experience to transition to ED later in my career? I know that many ED positions call for ED experience, I am not sure how hospitals view ICU experience for the ED.

Any advice is much appreciated. Since I do not have any experience with nursing jobs or much experience in ED or ICU, I am just hoping to get some feedback from nurses who know the field. I am also not sure which of these units would be the best learning environment for a new grad.

Thank you very much for your help

[Wendy_RN]

Base your decision on what you feel you would be happier doing, not the salary. If you feel like ED is where you would rather be, then that is where you should go. Yes, you can transition from ICU to ED if you decide to do so. My question is why would you go to ICU if you are drawn to ED and are wondering about transferring?

[Dixielee, BSN, RN]

I have been a bartender for years and enjoy a fast-paced environment.

Sorry, but I had to laugh out loud with that comment. You are definately ready for the ER, you will already know a lot of the patients! Only problem is, you don't get tips in the ER!! come on down....

[Lynnette1990]

i would do icu, but ultimately it's your choice.

[Wendy_RN]

i would do icu, but ultimately it's your choice.

i do not mean any offense by this, so please don't take it that way. you didn't give any reasons as to why you would do icu, you are 17, and you are not a nurse. it is a little off base to say what you would do without any experience. again, no offense intended.

[Megsd, BSN, RN]

I think it really depends on A) what your goals are and B) what you want in your first job. I love ER too, but chose not to pursue that as my first position. I will work on a step-down unit for a year and then transition (if at that point I still want to do ER.. goals change, too!)

My reasons for doing so was I wanted my first position to have a little more structure (if such a thing exists in nursing) so I can establish some sort of routine and competency in managing a full team of patients. I considered going to ICU first, but it was recommended to me, by an ER nurse, to do step-down instead because ICU nurses at my hospital only have 1-2 patients, so the prioritization of care among multiple pts may be harder to pick up because you simply don't have many pts.

I'm finishing up a new grad internship and spent a month in the ICU and while I saw some neat things, I wouldn't want to work there. I enjoy fast-paced environments as well and enjoy staying busy all day, and many days in the ICU I had a lot of downtime, just waiting for the hour to tick by so I could enter more numbers into the computer or hang another drip.

Good luck with your decision. The learning curve in both environments is huge and pretty much vertical, from those I have talked to, but they can both be rewarding, depending what you want.

[Lynnette1990]

I do not mean any offense by this, so please don't take it that way. You didn't give any reasons as to why you would do ICU, you are 17, and you are not a nurse. It is a little off base to say what you would do without any experience. Again, no offense intended.

The reason i said ICU was because when I did my clinicals at the hospital and i went to the ICU I liked it. It was one of the departments I am looking into and would like to do in the future. Just because i'm 17 and have no experience as an actual nurse does not mean I don't know what i think I will like and what I don't think I will like. I think that was the point of clinicals -- to figure out what feild you actually want to look into pursuing.

[pbajil]

You should do ER if that is where your heart is. I had a few areas I truly wanted to work in, but ICU was hiring, and the pay was good, so I worked ICU. Many years later I am trying to transition to ER and it's not as easy. Work in the ER. If you do decide to take the ICU job, great. But if you want to transfer to ER, do it soon and give yourself a deadline.