Opinions about transferring unit?

Nurses New Nurse

Published

Hello there,

Any opinions will be highly appreciated.

I am a NEW GRADUATE RN. I got a job in PCU and my plan is to transfer to an ICU in the same hospital.

My question is:

- What is the appropriate time frame to transfer? I feel like it is bad to transfer as soon as possible after the unit takes me in as a new graduate and train me.

- Are employers usually open to employee transfer to different unit for something I like or to gain more experience on other specialties?

- Any suggestions on how to make the transfer that will not leave a bad impression on the manager as well as the unit.

The manager knows I like ICU and he even asked if I applied to ICU position, which I did but I got this job offer first and accepted it. It is a great unit with lot of learning opportunities.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
hello there,

any opinions will be highly appreciated.

i am a new graduate rn. i got a job in pcu and my plan is to transfer to an icu in the same hospital.

my question is:

- what is the appropriate time frame to transfer? i feel like it is bad to transfer as soon as possible after the unit takes me in as a new graduate and train me.

- are employers usually open to employee transfer to different unit for something i like or to gain more experience on other specialties?

- any suggestions on how to make the transfer that will not leave a bad impression on the manager as well as the unit.

the manager knows i like icu and he even asked if i applied to icu position, which i did but i got this job offer first and accepted it. it is a great unit with lot of learning opportunities.

the appropriate time frame to transfer is about two years. after the first unit takes you in as a new grad and trains you, they deserve to get the benefit of that training. it will be a full year before you're adequately trained and experienced and can start to really contribute to your unit. they deserve at least another full year.

whether employers are open to transfers for the employees dream job varies. some are more open than others. if you've been a high maintenance employee they be anxious to get rid of you and actively push you to "follow your dream" to the icu. i'm assuming that's not what you're looking for. it will depend upon the staffing situation in both units at the time you're considering your transfer and how you distinguished yourself during your time on the first unit.

if you work really hard and do a fabulous job your first year, then begin to take on more responsibility such as committees, precepting students or assistive personnel, etc. the second year, your nurse manager will be sorry to see you go, but she'll be happy to do you a good turn. when you reach that point in your relationship with your manager and having ascertained that there is an icu job open, go to your manager and tell her that it's your dream to work in icu and ask her how she'd go about achieving it. a manager who is on your side can greatly smooth the transition to another unit.

Hi Ruby,

Thank you for answering all my questions fully. AWESOME ADVICE as always.

I agree with you that it is bad to start a job knowing that you will leave it for something else. I really do not want to do that, however, with the situation nowadays, how many new grads really get what they really want? Do people just sit around and wait for what they want, which may never come or take what will be a step for them to get what they want? I like to make commitment to where I work, but do I give up my dream to work in an ICU and stay with the unit I am hired at first? This is why I take this job because it is a BIG hospital, if transfer, I only need to transfer within hospital instead of other hospital. I think it is better than transfer between hospitals.

I ALWAYS try my best on everything. Even though I plan to transfer, I still take every learning opportunities seriously and fully. Also, this unit is very busy and as I see, there will be a lot of learning opportunities that I will get from this hospital.

I'd wait a solid year from when you are off orientation and operating as independent RN. so say you started with a preceptor in June and on your own in October, I'd wait til Cctober of next year to transfer. That way, you have a year's exp and it doesn't look like you have been counting down the days from the minute you start. The hospital I work in made it clear from the beginning that they want their employees to be happy and that they want them to follow their nursing dreams so transferring is always an option. We've had 3 nurses go to the ICU lately and one of them was a nurse that had just over her 1 year mark on our unit.

Your managers won't take it personally when you decide to transfer within the hospital

+ Add a Comment