Experience with Critical Care Nurse vent

Zee_RN, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2002

As a critical care nurse, I can only say..... You're right. Many of them (us) are arrogant and demeaning to non-critical care nurses. And we *do* see a lot of RUSH! RUSH! RUSH! to the unit only to have the patients cured when they come through the "magic doors" of the ICU. Don't know why this happens. But it does. Saw it happen when I was a med-surg nurse.

I'm sorry you had this experience. When I left med-surg to go to the Unit, many people said to me...."Are you going to become mean now too?" (I don't believe I have!!) In our unit now, we are working to overcome this image.

Have you heard the saying? What's the difference between a bulldog and an ICU nurse? ................. Lipstick.

New CCU RN · Dec 16, 2002

Sorry that you had to experience that!!! I do have to agree with "Zee" that all to many times you'll get a report of this "coding patient" (yet code beeper never went off) and the patient rolls on through and is a "walky/talky" wondering why the are being brought to the ICU.

That nurse shouldnt have been so rude to you. And often times pt's bps can be that labile.....heck, it could have been up from all the stess of being brought down to the unit Sorry that you had to experience that!

I have another one..... Critical care nurses are too critical to care...heheheeh

dawngloves, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2002

She cured him!!!! Hurray! What a super nurse! She should go for the Noble Prize in Medicine! You tell that to smarty pants next time she gives you 'tude

JMP · Dec 16, 2002

interesting reading- I find in our hospital that floor nurses view the ICU nurses with "attitude"..... that we are all *****y and rude. Which I think is unfair and sometimes can make for uncomfortable transfers.

We, as critical care nurses, are trained to under react at times I think. We may be going at a million miles per hour inside, but outside show calm and reason..... which at times may be taken as cold or uncaring- but that is the nature of our work.

Aas far as the lisptick- bulldog comment- many of my MALE conterparts would find that a silly comparision. And I find it kind of insulting myself, since I wear lipstick and am quite certain I am not a bulldog in my thinking or acting.

renerian, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2002

Found the same thing when I worked acute care. I can't tell you the number of times I went up to change a chemo bag (we did all the off the floor chemo), and found drips or dopamine piggybacked into it no matter how many times I said, wrote on the kardex or otherwise not to PB anything into it. I would have to toss all the tubing and start over. Most of the time they were not very nice to me and I was there to help them.

renerian

deespoohbear · Dec 16, 2002

Originally posted by 3rdShiftGuy
First of all, ALL critical care nurses please don't flame me, as I'm talking about one situation not all critical care nurses.

I've had several experiences with critical care nurses over the years. A couple of them have been down right snooty.

We had a hypotensive patient that an MD ordered dopamine on. Naturally, in our facility on critical care does dopamine. Off to the unit he went.

Later the nurse comes by and says, "since we put him on the proper size cuff, his BP's have been triple digit and no dopamine is necessary, you're probably going to get him right back".

You had to have heard the arrogance and superiority involved to get the whole picture. I unfortunately, got very angry back at the CC nurse....."I NEVER intervene in BP issues without taking a BP's manually. Unless we are hard of hearing the BPs were critically low when we were taking them. They weren't too bad, and perhaps the MD overreacted when he ordered dopamine, but I'm not an MD and he MD ordered Dopamine. "

This nurse implied we were too stupid to know how to take BPs. Sigh....of course she found the cuff we were using under his pillow, and it was the same size she was using.

Anyway, the important thing is the patient is o.k. But I loathe arrogant critical care nurses who belittle the med-surg nurse.

Rant over. Don't flame please. I've always had a great relationship with this unit. I'm just tired right now.

Oh we get this attitude all the time from our ICU nurses. We are a small facility with a 4 bed ICU. One of the night nurses I swear would tell you that even an intubated patient wouldn't qualify for admission to the ICU. Sometimes there is no pleasing this nurse. If we bring a patient in from the floor, she complains. If we have an unstable patient on the floor, she states that we don't know what we are doing and that they should be in the unit....can't win. I just do the best job I can and forget about it....

askater11 · Dec 16, 2002

I'm a step-down nurse. My g.f. is a CCU nurse. Last time I visited her, she was studying A.C.L.S. I said to my g.f., "doesn't all that come easy to you, since you see it day in and day out?"

My g.f.'s response was, "actually the medical surgical nurses do most of the work and by the time we get them they're stable."

So regarding that comment about "cure". Many med/surg nurses should pack themselves on their back.

I worked in a small non-teaching hospitals the R.N's rarely shared their knowledge or helped us.

Now I work at a large teaching hospital the R.N.'s respect each other...and often I call CCU or different units and they'll actually come to the unit and assist!!! (and vice a versa)

ptnurse · Dec 16, 2002

Maybe you ran across an arrogant individual that just happens to be working in the ICU. People like that are usually arrogant and snotty regardless of where they work. It is just their nature to try and build their own lacking self-esteem by tearing others down.

BadBird, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2002

The best outcome is that the patient was stable, as far as the attitudes not all of us have them but we all know who does, every hospital seems to have a few RN's with a chip of their shoulder. Don't take it personally, you responded correctly, notifying the MD and taking appropriate action for your patient, too bad if the nurse wasn't satisfied with your BP readings.

Lacey · Dec 16, 2002

Sorry you had a bad experience with that ICU nurse. I don't know about your facility, but at mine the DOCTORS decide which pt. needs to go to the unit, not the nurse. And, if the ICU nurses are so smart, how many times have you had a pt. come out of the unit onto the floor and go bad within the next shift? We have had other hospitals life flight pts to our ICU and they actually get off the stretcher and get into bed unassisited! Whatever, lets just all get through our shift and be nice to each other!

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2002

Originally posted by Zee_RN
Have you heard the saying? What's the difference between a bulldog and an ICU nurse? ................. Lipstick.

Never heard that one. But thanks for making me laugh. That is hysterical!