First year, worst year?

I am sure you have learned a lot but just don't realize it. I have learned a lot my first year (got my license last June) and I work tele, eventually want to go to the unit. How come your ICU doesn't have unit appropriate pt's, though I heard our unit is a dumping ground for the chronical ill pt. Do you have a CICU or CVICU at your hospital, those are other units that may be more to your liking. You will find that no matter what, you are learning something. And when you have free time and someone has something interesting going on, ask if you can help or observe. I try and do that sometimes, but lately if I have any free time I try and horde it.

:balloons: Thanks for the encouragement Chach. :balloons:

Our hospital is a charity, which attends to the poor and dying. Our the last few years, from what my colleagues tell me, we've lost a lot of medical staff because we can't pay as well as the huge corporation hospital (our only competitor). So, no skilled intensivists, neurosurgeons, ect. and the acute pts., go to that huge conglomeration...

Of course I knew none of this, when I accepted the job. I'm not so worried, anymore, because one of my fellow classmates works with me, and she is looking for a new job, and she is being courted and pursued.

I guess some of this feeling is just adjusting to real nursing, instead of the "glass house" nursing we learned in school. BTW, I still love going to work! I have never had that luxury before, and it definitely outweighs my fears!

Thanks again!

KJ

I'm sure you have gained some sort of new perspective from this first year.....you know things that you didnt know before.......no matter how many years of experience a nurse has, he or she doesnt know how to do everything perfectly.........just try to look at it as a learning experience for making decisions in the future.

With your ambition and drive I don't think a new unit/hospital would have any problem with "retraining" you. You are not necessarily going to be retrained. I am sure you will be dealing with a lot that you haven't seen before. You will be adding to your training.My philosophy is the day that you don't think that you can learn something new it is a sad day for someone in the medical field. I try to learn at least one new med/procedure/concept a shift. If I have a minute or two I will look up a Prognosis that my Pt. has that I am not familiar with.I have been a PICU RN for 3.5 years and decided to get some experience in the Adult ICU. They welcomed me with open arms. Good Luch!

Hi everyone, I'm a long time lurker, finally driven to post a message... I graduated last august, got my license last November, and have been working at a 16 bed ICU since school got out...

I feel like I am foundering. We don't see very acute patients, and I only get to use "real" ICU skills once in a while, which pretty much means I haven't mastered anything, except drips, and dressing changes... Sigh. I feel trapped, because I'm afraid that I can't ask another hospital to "re-train" me when I will supposedly have had more than a year of “experience" after my contract is up. I signed the contract so I could do the ECCO-ANCC program free, and that was good, but not what I was led to believe it was. I'm sorry if this thread stinks, now you know why I just lurk!

Please tell me what your thoughts are about my situation. I will be done with this contract April 2007, or else its $3000 to break it...

BTW, I like my coworkers, so it's not as if I hate my job, it's just I want to move next year and I thought I would have learned a lot more...

TIA

KJ

Does this hospital have a regular Med/Surge floor? If so, why not see if you can be oriented out there and possibly split your time between units? This would serve 2 purposes, 1. You would gain some of the experience that you feel that you are missing and 2. It would look really good on your resume and possibly get you higher wages at the next hospital.

Like another poster stated you probably have learned more than you realize. As far as the $$$ only you can decide if you have the ability to repay that. Did you get it all up front? If they are paying it out, don't accept the rest of the money and start looking for something different. And unless you go into a different area, I don't think they would necessarily have to "retrain" you.........you have got the knowledge, you just haven't been able to apply what you have learned so probably a good orientation would suffice. Good luck to you!!