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Discussion

I miss it

So I used to work in a really busy MICU, started there as a new grad, worked there for approx 2 years. I love the job itself but a lot had changed since about a year after I started- we got all new management, moved into a new part of the hospital, acquired 20 new beds and a stepdown that we were now floated to, had 80 new hires and travelers. We also were told at around the two year mark we would rotate less and transition to either straight nights or days- with the change in management and the increase in size this was no longer a reality. I also felt afraid for my license. I was only working for 2 years but because of the changes many senior nurses left, and my fellow RNs that were left from "the old unit" were looked to as the senior staff. All this being said I loved being a MICU nurse, the acuity, the families, the craziness, and the majority of my coworkers. The environment changed though and I felt it was time for me to go. I felt burned out and was ready for a change. I moved to Interventional Radiology about a year ago and I LOVE the schedule- M-F 36 hrs, call weekends and nights, and one call holiday a year. I unfortunately do not feel challenged, I feel like I have lost my skills, I don't feel like I mesh with the staff and I feel like I just do the job for the money (which I HATE). Part of me wants to go back to MICU, but my husband and family remind me of how burnt out I was and how much I hated it at the end. So far my plan is to keep the IR job and supplement with MICU shifts to keep my skills AND the good schedule in IR. I just wonder if anyone else out there feels this need to be a martyr for the job. I love it so much but I don't know how to balance rotating shifts and all the other stuff that comes with the MICU where I work. I just feel this need to be challenged. Also, I have enrolled in Georgetown's FNP program so I am hoping to have that as a challenge so that I won't miss MICU as much but I don't know if that is going to fix it all. Oh well. Any suggestions or similar situations are appreciated.

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    All I can say is I hear ya. I worked in a busy community MICU for almost 5 years. I loved it, but I did become a bit burnt out, and the schedule wasn't working anymore. I'll skip the shoe story, but it's a year later and I haven't worked bedside since. I did NM, was unemployed for 5 months and now I am doing quality outcomes for a cath lab. Blech.

    I really do miss bedside ICU, but I know I could't do it full-time. Not enough money, hours are too long as a single parent although i miss those 3 12.5 hour days. I do like not working holidays now and having weekends off, but I miss caring for the patient.

    I hear RRT in the hospital I work in and want to run to it!

    So I have considered going back to my old ICU per diem. One or 2 shifts per month on the weekends my DD is with her father. Just to get the skill back in and the fulfillment of want to care for patients and that rush again.

    2 days a month I can handle. Have you considered a little per diem somewhere? Just to keep you sharp?

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    We have a nurse who picks up OT on my unit that does IR. She's brilliant. She did MICU for a number of years, got tired of it and went to IR. She sounds honestly happy with that decision.

    Maybe a little moonlighting in the MI now and again is all you need to get your rocks off. The schedule does kill you, I sure won't miss this when I move on to bigger and better things after grad school. Good luck in whichever route you choose!

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