How do all the experienced ICU nurses feel about....

Mrs.Rollins, ASN, RN · Aug 15, 2009

I'm a new grad in the ICU and I know, in my heart of hearts, that it's my calling in life. I simply don't think I could do what med-surg nurses do: they are the backbone of the hospital, and their ability to balance so many patients and so many demands upon their time, brain, and body never fail to astonish me. While my patients are indeed critical, at least there's only two of them! :-)

There was only one nurse on my unit who flat-out told me he thought I should do med-surg for a year first; even so, he has still been very supportive and kind to me since I started. My entire unit has been incredibly accepting and supportive of me, and it helps to know that I always have them to fall back on it. It improves my clinical skills and builds my confidence when I have those veteran nurses there to teach and shape me.

CMF_Dennen · Aug 18, 2009

Although i enjoyed the banter between everyone on this topic it was extremely annoying as well. How dare an ICU nurse pretend he or she knows what its like to work on a med/surg floor unless they've done it. The same goes for a med/surg nurse attempting to comment on what ICU nurses deal with. It's completely ridiculous. Every unit, every specialty, and every hospital operate differently. This turned into some back and forth banter about what nursing specialty was better or who worked harder. Any type of nursing can be and is mentally, physically, and emotionally draining. Its not like we're working with rainbows and butterflies. THe point that one member made about some graduate programs wanting you to have med/surg experience was simply stating that obviously as a nurse educator teaching students that are aquiring their ADN or BSN, they will most likely be working on med/surg floors. And who better to teach about med/surg than a med/surg nurse?!?! NOt saying an ICU nurse can't be amazing b/c if you work in ICU you are going to have very good skills but you don't work in med/surg and IT IS DIFFERENT than being an ICU nurse. But it really depends on the educator at hand. An ICU nurse that is well educated and loves to teach will probably be as great an educator as the next person. Anyways, it doesn't really matter because when it comes down to it there will be many programs that will accept almost anyone as long as they have the $$$$.

I think it depends on the new grad that is coming into the ICU. I myself am 8 months out of school and working in cardiac stepdown. I honestly felt that ICU would be too overwhelming for me. You have to be able to determine how you deal with stress and how a certain environment will mesh with your personality. Another factor however is the orientation that you receive. Alot of fellow students that i graduated with went into ICU. We graduated in December so there weren't alot of new grads coming into the units so i'd imagine they had a better orientation then some of the 20+new grads that just came in june. There are ALOT of circumstances that can alter how well or how bad a new grad does in an ICU and alot of those circumstances can be beyond the control of the new grad. If there are staffing issues, changes in management, poor preceptors, etc. the new grad could fail miserably and struggle even if they are the most amazing new grad in the whole world. My final two cents-a B**** is a B**** no matter what her profession. That doesn't seem to change when you switch specialties:)

rgroyer1RNBSN, BSN, RN · Aug 20, 2009

Why would I care about teaching? We're talking about nursing here. I am finishing up my BSN, then my MSN at the same school-it's a University. And, funny, they've never even asked me about medsurg experience.
And if you met me you'd be suprised at my experience level. Must have been the many years as a tech and EMT.
If my three years of experience is worth "quotes" what does that make your 2 years?
I've stayed at the same place, oriented and trained nursing with many years more experience than me and like I said, I'm in charge.
Any lame school that requires medsurg as a prerequites is stupid for turning away highly qualified nurses (that's me, btw)
I'd still like to see what school has that listed as a requirement.

I have been a nurse for 9 years and you will be suprised at how many programs "require it" smart one, dont get smart with nurses who have a little more exp. then you. And secondley I have my MSN now, and its as a critical care clinical nurse specialist and they required you to have some floor exp. :banghead:

allthemadmen · Aug 20, 2009

I'm about to start my second year of NS and want nothing more than to work in the ICU. My morning there last year was one of the best days of my life- and other students in my class complained their days in ICU were "boring," so a lot of this is self-selection as there is in any field or specialty. Some are suited for it and some bite off more than they can chew. Despite the awkwardness of some of the back-and-forth in this thread, I really appreciate this discussion, including the strong feelings and disagreements.

FWIW of my professors in nursing school, one advises the standard "year of Med-Surg;" the rest advocate going straight into specialties if one is sure about them, and our "honors" clinical program allows us to spend extra clinical hours in the specialty of our choice, which then leads to more likely employment in that unit as a new grad.

Thanks, everyone! The voice of experience is always appreciated, whatever the opposing viewpoints.

dorie43rn · Aug 21, 2009

Well, just as I predicted, its happening. With the economy, hospitals are cutting staff. Our ICU nurses have to float to the floor, or lose pay. Oh boy, the nurses who never worked med surg are not happy about this. This is the sign of the times people. You may be a lucky one who won't have to float to the floors, but you are the few. How is an ICU nurse who has has 3 very ill patients at the most, going to handle 6-8 patients all needing pain meds if they never worked med surg? If anything, having med surg is job security.

meandragonbrett · Aug 21, 2009

Well, just as I predicted, its happening. With the economy, hospitals are cutting staff. Our ICU nurses have to float to the floor, or lose pay. Oh boy, the nurses who never worked med surg are not happy about this. This is the sign of the times people. You may be a lucky one who won't have to float to the floors, but you are the few. How is an ICU nurse who has has 3 very ill patients at the most, going to handle 6-8 patients all needing pain meds if they never worked med surg? If anything, having med surg is job security.

This is not a sign of the times. It's nothing new. ICU nurses have always been expected to be able to function outside of the ICU. Push for your hospital to have closed ICU staffing. That's what I did. I flat out refused to take patient assignments on the floor. We never had medsurg nurses floated to help us out with tasks when we all had 3 or 4 patients a piece. I simply started refusing to float and we then decided we wanted closed staffing. If we're short, we deal with it by picking up extra. It's expected to cover our own empty holes....in return we don't float outside of ICU EVER.