I feel like an idiot at my new job.

TriciaJ, RN · Sep 3, 2015

Here's the deal: they have ICU internships for a reason. But they conned you out of yours because they needed a warm body. And now you're dealing with a steep learning curve and the perception that people are holding it against you.

Find someone who can be a mentor - a charge nurse, anyone. Ask if you can do even part of an internship because you're flying by the seat of your pants and that is not fair to anyone, especially you. Look around for some help and support - someone may surprise you. Good luck.

calivianya, BSN, RN · Sep 3, 2015

ICU people are just control freaks. We are. I give you props for working in a LTACH - that sounds like my personal version of Hades. You can have four or five people on drips/vents/etc? Ew ew ew, no way Jose, never. You learned a different workflow because you had to. You streamlined things instead of picking over the details, which you had to do to get your job done.

Get a mini-notebook to keep in your pocket, and every time someone asks you something that you didn't think to check, write down what it was and why they asked you about that. And look for that lab value/procedure/notification whatever in all of your future patients. It will start to become second nature. Do the same thing when you call doctors - when you called about X problem, what other data were they asking you about? Write it down and reference your notebook the next time you have to call about that problem.

I got treated like that a lot at my first job, and they had a residency program and I was in it. The other nurses don't care if you do the residency/internship/whatever or not. If they're the type to eat you alive, they're going to eat you alive anyway. You've just got to pick the nuggets out of what they're saying and ignore the "You're an idiot" looks and the eye rolls. Things do get better, and heck - you never do forget to look at a certain lab value once you've been nastily sniped at about it and have gotten your feelings hurt. I had that experience with a patient whose 0400 labs came back with the CK elevated but the troponin negative when I was a new grad - I hadn't done anything about it, and the day shift nurse ripped me a new one about not calling the doctor to let him know since the patient looked like he was going into rhabdo. It wasn't anything I was putting together at the time, but you better believe it was something I noticed and paid attention to after that.

Your ICU is probably one of those places where they just put new people through the wringer and it takes a good while for them to trust you. I have had good experiences in those types of places once you've been there for a year and they see you don't regularly kill your patients. Things do get better eventually, most of the time. It's still a crappy place to be in the meantime.

TriciaJ, RN · Sep 3, 2015

ICU people are just control freaks. We are. I give you props for working in a LTACH - that sounds like my personal version of Hades. You can have four or five people on drips/vents/etc? Ew ew ew, no way Jose, never. You learned a different workflow because you had to. You streamlined things instead of picking over the details, which you had to do to get your job done.
Get a mini-notebook to keep in your pocket, and every time someone asks you something that you didn't think to check, write down what it was and why they asked you about that. And look for that lab value/procedure/notification whatever in all of your future patients. It will start to become second nature. Do the same thing when you call doctors - when you called about X problem, what other data were they asking you about? Write it down and reference your notebook the next time you have to call about that problem.
I got treated like that a lot at my first job, and they had a residency program and I was in it. The other nurses don't care if you do the residency/internship/whatever or not. If they're the type to eat you alive, they're going to eat you alive anyway. You've just got to pick the nuggets out of what they're saying and ignore the "You're an idiot" looks and the eye rolls. Things do get better, and heck - you never do forget to look at a certain lab value once you've been nastily sniped at about it and have gotten your feelings hurt. I had that experience with a patient whose 0400 labs came back with the CK elevated but the troponin negative when I was a new grad - I hadn't done anything about it, and the day shift nurse ripped me a new one about not calling the doctor to let him know since the patient looked like he was going into rhabdo. It wasn't anything I was putting together at the time, but you better believe it was something I noticed and paid attention to after that.
Your ICU is probably one of those places where they just put new people through the wringer and it takes a good while for them to trust you. I have had good experiences in those types of places once you've been there for a year and they see you don't regularly kill your patients. Things do get better eventually, most of the time. It's still a crappy place to be in the meantime.

Can't "like" this one enough.

idodialysis · Sep 3, 2015

Don't know why the staff treat new people so terribly. Grow up nurses.

VANurse2010 · Sep 3, 2015

ICU people are just control freaks. We are. I give you props for working in a LTACH - that sounds like my personal version of Hades. You can have four or five people on drips/vents/etc? Ew ew ew, no way Jose, never. You learned a different workflow because you had to. You streamlined things instead of picking over the details, which you had to do to get your job done.
Get a mini-notebook to keep in your pocket, and every time someone asks you something that you didn't think to check, write down what it was and why they asked you about that. And look for that lab value/procedure/notification whatever in all of your future patients. It will start to become second nature. Do the same thing when you call doctors - when you called about X problem, what other data were they asking you about? Write it down and reference your notebook the next time you have to call about that problem.
I got treated like that a lot at my first job, and they had a residency program and I was in it. The other nurses don't care if you do the residency/internship/whatever or not. If they're the type to eat you alive, they're going to eat you alive anyway. You've just got to pick the nuggets out of what they're saying and ignore the "You're an idiot" looks and the eye rolls. Things do get better, and heck - you never do forget to look at a certain lab value once you've been nastily sniped at about it and have gotten your feelings hurt. I had that experience with a patient whose 0400 labs came back with the CK elevated but the troponin negative when I was a new grad - I hadn't done anything about it, and the day shift nurse ripped me a new one about not calling the doctor to let him know since the patient looked like he was going into rhabdo. It wasn't anything I was putting together at the time, but you better believe it was something I noticed and paid attention to after that.
Your ICU is probably one of those places where they just put new people through the wringer and it takes a good while for them to trust you. I have had good experiences in those types of places once you've been there for a year and they see you don't regularly kill your patients. Things do get better eventually, most of the time. It's still a crappy place to be in the meantime.

There are ICUs out there that don't engage in this ridiculous hazing crap. Find a better one, OP.

GttDrop34 · Sep 5, 2015

Your story sounds so much like what I experienced! Ltach to ICU, rushed through orientation, the whole deal. Then I had the veteran nurses (some of whom had been working on the same unit for 30+years!) looking at me sideways. I'd say good morning and they'd look at me and

not say anything back. After I'd been there awhile, they were telling me good morning first lol. Once they get used to you, things will be better. Don't be afraid to ask questions and like someone else said, try to find a mentor. I had a few great ones who were thankfully always willing to teach me. If you can't find one, talk to your manager and really push to at least be given some classes. I find that youtube has some great educational material, just search critical care lectures. Hope things get better for you! :nurse:

happy_life · Sep 7, 2015

Quite honestly, I've never made a big move from one life experience to another without feeling like an idiot. It's normal! The best part is it will get better eventually. And whenever I've made a leap before I felt perfectly ready, I've never regretted it because if I waited til that perfect moment, it would never arrive. So don't give up and keep on truckin'! Trust me you'll get up to speed, just give it some time. :))

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Sep 7, 2015

LTAC is a good prep for ICU -- better than med-surg in my opinion.

That said, there will be a learning curve, and 2 weeks' orientation is a sick joke anyway. You can't become a fully functioning ICU nurse in two weeks, and I'm sorry you haven't felt supported. If the facility was so desperate as to think a 2 week orientation was okay for a new-ish nurse, I'll bet there is some burnout involved.

Calivianya made some great suggestions. I'd also recommend getting some CCRN resources and a pocket reference and do some studying on your own.

A lot of this simply takes time and practice. You'll get it! Here's a ((((hug))))