I've been working in my hospitals 8 bed ICU/CCU since 2-26-02. I transferred over from a 30 bed tele cardiac/resp med surg unit. I have 5 years experience as an RN. Since I am the junior RN on the 7p-7a shift and because my job description say so, I have to go out and work the med/surg units when the census in ICU doesn't require 3 RN's which is most of the time. My question is this:
I have an interview set up this Friday with the Nursing Recruiter at a larger hospital 35 miles away from me for a 1 day a week position in one of their ICU's. I was thinking that I could get some more critical care exp under my belt plus get to work with Swans and IABP's more often as we rarely see these in the ICU that I (don't) work in now. At my current job, I work three days a week--12 hr shifts. I could swing working a 4th 12 hr shift a week plus I can always use the extra money.
Do you think that this is a good idea or a bad idea?
Hey, sounds like you've answered your own advice! :)
If you want to learn critical care at a busy facility and it feels right to you, go for it! A good critical care internship will be a great experience for you!
You can go prn or perdiem at your current facility for extra $$, if you take the new job.
Good luck and let us know how it all turns out. :)
Kelly...I loved reading your geocities webpage just now. :)
Here is what I 'HEAR' you saying...from webpage and here...
(1) One day you want children
(2) You want to work Obstetrics - (Did you change your mind?)
(3) You want to work Trauma/Critical Care...work with sophisticated state of the art equipement, not float so much if at all, be embraced by the staff as one of them...(None of this is wrong to want, as every nurse desires this too) :kiss
(4) You sound so excited when you talk about what it is you want out of the Trauma/Critical Care Experiences...
(5) ****THE BIGGY HERE****: YOU AREN'T HAPPY WHERE YOU ARE...THEY TREAT YOU TERRIBLY.
My two cents worth is this:
After the 9/11 disaster, life is too short to not move forward with one's life. There is no reason a person should dwell too long in a place that holds them back, doesn't offer them the exposure on the job they would like, or benefit their personality to the point of drawing them into the fold with the other people they work alongside of every day.
Also...you are spending too many nights away from your husband as it is (three 12 hour shifts...and you are thinking of adding a 4th to the equation???) Life isn't promised to us...don't weigh your life according to making an extra buck here or there. As for having to drive 35 minutes to work at a place that embraces YOU more than where you are...what is 35 minutes if it brings you one step closer to where you eventually want to end up in your career?
Pardon my MOTHERLY advice, but as a Titus 2 woman, I must NOT remain quietly in the background while I watch someone...especially a woman young enough to be my child...with far less life experience than I...remain in a traumatic situation - emotionally, intellectually, mentally, spiritually, or physically.
BOTTOM LINE: IF I were in your shoes...would have left that hospital long ago for a more pleasant embracing one.
Have you thought about moving closer to the other hospital so you won't have to drive the 35 miles to work? You are too too young to not remain flexible in your life when opportunities such as the other hospital offers comes along. Dont' stifle yourself by second guessing 'SHOULD YOU OR SHOULDN'T YOU' type questions. Ask yourself this question: "Kelly, will I regret it if I don't take my career to higher heights and work in places where I know I will attain my highest possibilities?" There's your answer.
Sorry if sound bossy...that is my MOTHERLY older woman tendency to do so. :kiss
Kelly, in your heart of hearts, you KNOW what you desire to do. If your hubby supports you (and not just that you're working! LOL!!!) and wants you to be happy, that always helps you decide. My hubby has always felt that if I was doing something that I loved, I am easier to live with! (Hmmm, says something about me when I'm NOT happy, doesn't it?)
Here's another personal question: why DID you switch jobs to work closer to home last time? Did it feel like you were on the road all of the time; was it the convenience; better pay; an accident; boredom; frustration: what made you change then and is that what is making you change now? Do some soul-searching about yourself so you can use that info to help you decide what you want. Asking myself some of these questions helped me find the perfect job-- and I've (surprisingly) been in my unit for 23 years in Sept.
Why does this big hospital have such low wages? Do they have a union? The hospital-supplied scrubs and benefits and differential may all equal the $4.00 /hr pay difference when you figure it all out. The learning experiences should also be factored into your decision. And also the car expenses: can you car pool at least 1 shift a week or pay period? That would cut down on wear and tear on your own vehicle.
Kelly, you have gotten good advice. Now from an old dog who walked in your shoes over 17 years ago, moving from my general ICU w minimal techno to an open heart unit was the BEST move I ever made. I was soooo happy. Even though it is kind of cook book nursing after a while w open hearts, it is nevertheless fascinating, and you will learn something new everyday. I eventually got to a point where I didn't need to look at a swan to tell my pt had a low cardiac ouput. You will develop great assessment skills. You will love it.
What do you have to look forward to in your old unit? floating q week? Crappy evals by jealous insecure co-workers?? So, it's $4 less per hour, after a few years here, you will be able to write your own ticket anywhere with that experience! Trust me, I know what I speak of! Better bennies and less floating, more support, and doing what you really want all = less stress. I commuted 26 miles one way to a job like this for 13 years! Only one care, and it held up fine! I only left b/c my fav surgeon came to a hospital to start up a open heart surgery program 7 min from my home, and he asked me to be a part of his team, how great is that?
I'm not going to be PC and say search your soul, I'm gonna say TRY IT, YOU"LL LIKE IT!!!! (You're probably too young to remember that slogan, LOL!)
Renee is sooo right, life is too short. Do it before you settle down and have kids, b/c once kids come along, a mother (and father, but let's face it, usually moms) make a lot of career sacrifices in order to meet the family's needs. So the time to do it is now.
I think you should ABSOLUTELY go where you will get the critical care experience that you need. It seems foolish to me that your current job would make you float out so frequently and then expect you to function as an ICU nurse when the census allows.
Just a little something don't know if it helps or not.
I was working in a job where I was performing jobs wwaayyyy beneath my training that I hated, because I felt I needed the extra money. then September eleven happened.
Well I snapped, I told the nursing unit manager everything, and I mean everything, from the dangerous practices that she endorsed to the non nursing duties that she thought I should be doing to the crappy staff whom I had filed complaint after compliant about and she had done nothing about. Then I stormed out. And I've got to tell you that it was the best decision that I have ever made! LOL!!
It took two weeks before I found my dream job, I have a job that is challenging, conforms to union rules and where the staff are beyond reproach. You only have so many years of life and it's too short to spend it doing something you hate.
On a lighter note, you'll never have enough money to have children, take that from a mother of four! LOL!!! Close both eyes firmly and JUMP, you'll not look back.:)
As an aside: Hoolihan, you need to stick your head and body into CV-ICU nursing again, 'cuz it certainly isn't cookbokk nursing anymore! Patient populations, drugs, machinery, technics, procedures have all changed so much that I'm learning new stuff every single day! We don't get those "bread and butter hearts these days-- you know, the uncomplicated CABG's who do great and get the bills paid-- THEY now have complicated invasive procedures; and only the REAL sick ones come to us now!
Secondly; I was trying to allow Kelly to make up her own mind; even though I feel just like you posted-- try it, you'll like it!
Thank you all for your wonderful advice! Renee, Hoolahan, Jenny P, mattsmom, moon and aussie thanks so much.
The reason I left the first job almost two years ago was mostly in part to always working short staffed to the point of shifts being totally unsafe with NO support from management AND the low wages. I didn't mind the drive so much as it helped me clear my thoughts and gave me time to get in gear for the day.
This hospital doesn't have a union. Wages for nurses in this area (Erie, PA) have typically been low. Why? I dont know.
When I became a nurse 5 years ago, I thought that I had wanted to work in obstetrics but in my area, PA included it's very hard for a nurse with NO experience to get a job in OB. So, I thought I'd try critical care and I like it! When I get to work it, that is. I primarily get floated out to the floors on a daily basis. I knew that going into this job but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
The other hospital hasn't even offered me a job yet. I think that they will(unless I am WAY off base). I interviewed in two ICU"s a MICU and a SICU/Heart Unit. I am leaning towards the SICU/Heart Unit though. When I toured the MICU, I noticed that there was an RN working there that I worked with once before at the first hospital. We got along OK but I think that she is an idiot, so I don't want to work there.
Someone, in my other thread, mentioned that I should stick it out for 6 months rather than just leaving now. Why? I know that I won't be happy staying there.
If I get offered a job at this new place, I'll feel really bad about leaving them short on the 7p-7a shift. One RN left a few weeks ago and they haven't replaced her. If I leave this will leave them with 5 FT night shift RN's. Not including the two RN's who work prn. But I suppose that won't be my problem! I'll simply say that I want to work with cabg/heart patients and get more critical care experience so I can make myself a better nurse and I could work prn for you guys after a certain time.
Renee, thanks for the motherly advice. My mom's away on vacation right now and won't be back till the 5th of July! She was in South Dakota for a week doing missionary work on an Indian Reservation and now she should be on her way to Yellowstone National Park, then the Grand Canyon then Las Vegas and for the 4th of July they plan to stop in St Louis, MI to see fireworks over the Arch. My Dad went too!
Yeah, If I were a little more computer literate, then I'd have a way cooler website!
This is why I love this Board. All of the advice is nothing less of GREAT! THANKS TO ALL!! :kiss
you can always quit the new job if it doesnt work out for whatever reason, and go back to where you are now. then you can renegotiate for more money cos you will have more experience...it doesnt seem to me like you have anything to lose taking the new position...you can only gain.
Hi JennyP, I am sorry if it seemed like I was putting down your advice to kelly, I certainly was not. Just kind of saying I was going to try not to be so PC, which as a moderator, sometimes I do b/c I would really like to say something a little more...grittier?? Not sure if that is the word. So, I meant no offense to you.
And I certainly didn't mean to imply CT ICU nursing was always cookbook! I did say it was fascinating and I learned something new everyday. Just that I have found that I can make just as much of a difference in a patient's life, esp my cardiac pt's, as a home health nurse. I had my share of LVAD's, and IABP's, cracked chests and the like, just that after a while, I wanted something different. I loved it, and it suited me then, but I have been able to apply the knowledge I gained there to my present client load in a way that is very satisfactory, plus no nights, and only 2 holidays a year, can do my charts at my home, as the soaps are on, and I am home when my kids get on and off the bus from school. I have no doubt that CT ICU ramians as dynamic a field now as it was when I was there, but I have closed that chapter, and I am cool with my new chapter. :kiss
I did say it was fascinating and I learned something new everyday. Just that I have found that I can make just as much of a difference in a patient's life, esp my cardiac pt's, as a home health nurse. I had my share of LVAD's, and IABP's, cracked chests and the like, just that after a while, I wanted something different. I loved it, and it suited me then, but I have been able to apply the knowledge I gained there to my present client load in a way that is very satisfactory, plus no nights, and only 2 holidays a year, can do my charts at my home, as the soaps are on, and I am home when my kids get on and off the bus from school. I have no doubt that CT ICU ramians as dynamic a field now as it was when I was there, but I have closed that chapter, and I am cool with my new chapter. :kiss
mattsmom81
4,516 Posts
Hey, sounds like you've answered your own advice! :)
If you want to learn critical care at a busy facility and it feels right to you, go for it! A good critical care internship will be a great experience for you!
You can go prn or perdiem at your current facility for extra $$, if you take the new job.
Good luck and let us know how it all turns out. :)