ICU BURN OUT

Specialties MICU

Published

Hi all,

I would like to know what different hospitals are doing for the RN's to keep them motivated to stay in the nursing profession. I am a unit manager of an ICU and I have alot of RN's working for me that are just burned out!! There is a critical care nursing shortage across the country and there doesn't seem to be any relief. I am having to hire new grads into the ICU which also adds stress to my more senior staff.

Help!!!!!!!!

:confused: I am in currently in Nursing school with 2 yrs to go. I have always had the idea of finding a home in the critical care unit. Am I setting myself up for burn out or worse failure. I have always looked at the challenges of Critical care as something to embrase, but the stories I have read so far just makes me think that I do not know the reality of it all. Should I think twice about being a Critical Care nurse? One thing which I find a little uneasy is the ads I see where hospitals are looking for new grads to staff their ICU. I would never be so foolish to go to ICU fresh out of school, my teachers have ALWAYS advised NEVER to go to any special care unit until I have had at least 2 or more years in Med/Surg, b\c that is the place to gain valuable knowledge and experience.
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Originally posted by AnonymousRN

KSAHR: What's your nurse-pt ratio? If it's routinely 2:1 I find that CCU nurses don't burn out that often. However, the new trend of 3:1 in CCU/ICU, without adequate ancillary help to turn/bathe pts. leads to severe burnout pretty fast. I'm about to leave my staff CCU RN position (departure date June 1) after only 7 months due to burnout and its directly caused by the 3:1 ratio. Management needs to understand how grueling that ratio is. If you don't believe me, try it for one month. Go back to the bedside and try a 3:1 assignment every shift for one month. I guarantee, within that time, you'll cry uncle!

I agree- 3:1 is rediculous. And to make matters worse, our unit has Patient "techs" instead nursing assistants - "techs" who are glorified transporters and are not trained to do any actual patient

care (unless you consider stocking linen as patient care!). We also routinely have to share a secretary between 2 of the 4 units which means the phone is always ringing off the hook and we do most of our orders. We must give baths, turn, feed, assist to pt's to chairs, answer phones, officiate dysfunctional family members, etc., etc :( :(

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Originally posted by imaRN

Ok... John_G Has anyone told you about the "honeymoon phase" in ICU? 2 months is Not Quite long enough to make that judgement.

And a bit of advice: Don't let your co-workers hear what you just said......or you might have to eat those words sooner than later. ICU nurses have a quiet, but deadly way of letting people who think it is soooo easy, "drown on their own."

Hope it is not too late to save yourself!

We have flexibility, self scheduling, no mandation, overtime with bonus pay but NOTHING makes up for having to work

SHORT STAFFED!

As for me I am getting very tired of 3:1 pt. loads. Don't know how much longer I can survive ........imaRN

Thank you for the comic relief, and yes we do know how to "drown our own". Its' impossible to compare 3 icu pts to 12 floor pts with only the numbers. Let's hear John G's opinion after ICU reality sets in!!:cool:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Hello! I have been an rn for a little over six years, and my suggestion to you is to try a different field of nursing. I have done 3 years of med/surg, 3 years in the o.r. and now I work in an icu. I plan on becoming a flight nurse in 1 1/2 yrs, so that will still keep things interesting. As far as having new grads in the icu, go for it! we have a new bunch with us and they are so energetic and willing to learn! Plus, all of their pathophysiology is fresh in their minds! tell your burned out nurses to retire or take a vacation, or, try another area of nursing. I hope that helps! Good Luck!

Natosha:

SIX WHOLE YEARS !!

33 for me. 25 as a critical care specialist.

Have travelled the US (licensed in 16 states).

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Hello all! Im new to the icu (2 months) and prior to that worked the floor for 4 years. For those of you whining about the 3:1 ratio go back to the floor and you'll soon have wistful memories of your 3 pts. I realize that 3 ICU patients can keep you busy, but working the floor, the patients are less critical and thus pile them up on ya as if they were self care patients. I'm new to the unit and memories of the floor are close at hand. I find that the nurses in the unit here who do the most complaining are the ones who have been away from the floors for years. The person who suggested rotating to different areas of nursing had a great idea!

I have worked both floor and ICU. Here is the thing: If you have too many patients on a floor, you may miss something critical, your patient may pee the bed, be in pain, not get their meds on time, have a fingerstick after they've eaten instead of before, get their blood an hour after they were supposed to; I've been there and it's not pretty. However, in an ICU, if you have too many patients you will miss something critical, and your patients could easily die. Especially as sick as they tend to be in my ICU. I would never accept a three patient assignment unless two of those patients were on floor orders. It would be completely unsafe.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in MICU/SICU/CVICU.

I agree with all the responses to our poster who, after only 2 months (all which spent on orientation, I'm sure), thinks us ICU nurses are all whiners if we're on 3:1. Nothing to add there other than reality can be a cold, hard slap in the face sometimes.

I am personally feeling the pain of this 3:1 nonsense. Incident reports have become my best friend, and in every single one of them I'm happy to share that our loads are too great and patient safety is being affected because of the staffing. Apparently most of the other nurses on our unit have taken the same approach. How do I know this? Because due to the high volume of incident reports and risk managment meetings related to problems in our unit, our director was recently terminated (she was an aggressive proponent of 3:1 staffing). It's in flux now, with many promises that staffing will improve. I guess we'll see.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.
Hello all! Im new to the icu (2 months) and prior to that worked the floor for 4 years. For those of you whining about the 3:1 ratio go back to the floor and you'll soon have wistful memories of your 3 pts. I realize that 3 ICU patients can keep you busy, but working the floor, the patients are less critical and thus pile them up on ya as if they were self care patients. I'm new to the unit and memories of the floor are close at hand. I find that the nurses in the unit here who do the most complaining are the ones who have been away from the floors for years. The person who suggested rotating to different areas of nursing had a great idea!

I am a former floor nurse relatively new to ICU also, however I respectfully disagree with what you posted.

My unit also has 3:1 ratio, and the issue is not related to how many years are spent away from the floor. 3 patients in an ICU is unsafe. It is not an issue about who has more patients than the other, or who is complaining more; but a safety issue. Patients are in the ICU for a reason, and us fighting for safe ratios is a part of us advocating for their safety, as well as ours.

Just my opinion

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment