ICU envy?

stressgal, RN · Sep 26, 2009

I am not sure I understand the problem. You have a job, working in Neuro. Your facility is paying for critical care training. You will have experience that, after obtaining the required hours, qualifies you to take the CCRN exam. And the problem is you don't work in the same unit as your "friends"? The unit you work in doesn't have the title or status you perceive/desire? My advice is to set goals for yourself, do not follow someone elses. See those goals through. Learn from the past, but don't dwell in it. I am a firm believer that you are where you're supposed to be, when you're supposed to be there. Good luck!

groovy jeff, RN · Sep 26, 2009

Your damn lucky to have an internship, period!

I graduated in June with a 3.78, passed the NCLEX, have my ACLS, medical experience, no tatoos, mature (meaning older) and have had 3 interviews for positions that don't exist (fiscal year doesn't start till Oct and jobs probably won't open up until Nov/Dec). I would love to be in your shoes.

Quit whinning!

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 26, 2009

There is nothing wrong with wanting to work in an ICU. If that is what you want, then make a plan to get there someday. But it is not reasonable to obsess over it and to let jealousy and regret ruin your life. As the previous posters have said, you are in a position that many other nurses would envy. You should thank your lucky stars that you landed in that good spot in spite of making a few mistakes as a student. You are being a given a second chance and should focus on making the most of it.

If you are overwhelmed by your regrets and jealousy, then maybe professional counseling is in order.

Keep this in mind: If you make the most of this opportunity, you will get great clinical experience and education and certification that will give you plenty of options to work in an ICU in the future. If you mope around and let everyone you work with know that you are not happy in your current job and/or don't do well in your current job, they won't give you the support and recommendations that you may want later to help you move to an ICU.

In sum: You made a few mistakes. You've acknowledged them and are taking responsibility for them. Now ... forgive yourself and put them behind you. Don't made additional mistakes by doing anything less than 100% of your current job and/or letting your regrets dominate your life. Make the most of life (and work) where you are now and build skills, knowledge, and a professional reputation that will take you anywhere you want to go in the future.

Good luck to you. Have a good career -- and a good life.

T6B17159 · Sep 26, 2009

As an ICU nurse, I am compelled to respond to your posting. Throughout nursing school, many students have an idea of what they think they would like to do. I know I did. But the realities of working as nurse are far different from the structured days of schooling. And it doesn't matter what area of nursing you are in......including the ICU. I worked in Med/Surg, Telemetry and did two years of travel nursing. The entire time, I wanted to get into an ICU. I stopped traveling and took advantage of a critical care training class at a local hospital. For 14 months I dealt with being given patients like ETOH withdrawal, Psych and Tele overflow, while the more experienced ICU nurses were given the new open hearts and critically ill patients that would have provided great learning experiences. I finally left, and have been doing ICU float pool. Do I get more interesting patients to learn from? NO. I get the "insignificant" patients that no one else wants (as referenced above). Consequently, I am seeking training in something outside the ICU.

My points are these.....make sure you understand what the ICU is all about. That goes for any area of nursing. Do your research, talk with people in the field. No one, experienced or new grad, can possibly know what a job will be like without an intimate knowledge of that area. However, a little effort now can pay off big time in the long run.

I am sure you have your reasons for wanting an ICU environment so badly. Some people do percieve an elevated status or prestige associated with this unit. Some think that having a maximum of two patients is much better than five or six on a M/S floor. Whatever your reasons, if this is truly something you want, you will find a way to make it work. Envy is a waste of time and energy. Any experiences you have in other areas will only serve to help you in the ICU.

In closing......be careful what you ask for. You just might get it. Good luck to you.

talaxandra · Sep 26, 2009

You're right at the beginning of what will hopefully be a long career. I happen to think that ICU is not the place to start out as an inexperienced nurse, and some ward experience may give you a different context, skills and foundation. In any case. there's no clock ticking away, and you never know how serendipity may influence your life and work. This could lead you in an interesting and unexpected direction, but only if you're open to it.

I also think T6B17159 has a point - think about what it is about ICU that attracts you, what your expectations are, and why other areas of nursing are unattractive.

RN1982 · Sep 27, 2009

You are HFH, right? A lot of ICUs will not hire new grads unless they were a tech in said ICU. Now those critical care classes will not earn you your CCRN, you have to actually take the CCRN to be certified. Those classes prepare you for working in critical care. I've taken the classes because when I hired on there a couple years ago, they made all critical care hires take the course and pass some tests at the end in order to stay in critical care. Just to be clear, you do not take the CCRN test at the end of these courses, its just a test that you have to pass in order to stay in your critical care area.

I believe to take the CCRN you have to have x amount of hours in the ICU to even take the CCRN. Don't give up, get your experience in neuro then move on to ICU. Right now, you sound like an ungrateful child. That being said, you should be very happy you got an intern position because they are hard to come by. You are extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to intern but if you keep on with this childish attitude and the jealousy, you will not be seen in a good light with management. You need not worry about whether your classmates like the area they are externing in. You need to focus on yourself.

And please do not think that just because you are working in Neuro that you are not in critical care. Neuro is critical.

WindwardOahuRN, RN · Sep 29, 2009

A few comments on previous posts:

Taking critical care courses do not contribute anything towards being able to qualify to sit for the CCRN exam.

Be extremely grateful that you have an acute-care position that can put you on the path to your desired goal. Many new grads would kill for your job, or any hospital job for that matter. Stop whining. It's counter-productive and, given your present situation, pretty damn silly. Count your lucky stars---you have many.

Neuro is not necessarily "critical care," TurnLeftSide. It may be just a specialty floor and the critical patients would be sent to a neuro ICU.

RN1982 · Sep 29, 2009

I'm assuming she is working on Neuro step-down because she says she is taking critical care classes. I'm not sure if Neuro GPU nurses take critical care classes, I'm guessing not.

WindwardOahuRN, RN · Sep 29, 2009

I'm assuming she is working on Neuro step-down because she says she is taking critical care classes. I'm not sure if Neuro GPU nurses take critical care classes, I'm guessing not.

I've never considered step-down "critical care" and haven't seen step-down units classified as critical care units anywhere I've worked but maybe they do it differently in her facility. IME neuro step-down floors ship their patients to ICU if they become unstable.

Any nurse in our facility can take classes that pertain to critical care (12 lead EKG, for example) but I'm not sure if the OP was referring to a critical care COURSE---this would be a program with classroom and preceptor hours, not just individual classes.

She said it was a "neuro floor"---perhaps she can clarify it for us? :confused:

RN1982 · Sep 29, 2009

Eh, when I worked on step-down, it was considered critical care. A lot of places do consider stepdowns critical care areas. Even the AACN consider step-downs or progressive care units as "critical care". Why do you think they offer a PCCN certification? We took critical care classes during orientation, patients were monitored at all times. We had vents, some vasoactive drips, heparin and insulin gtts...that's critical care. We were also all ACLS certified. We got plenty of patients who needed to be in in ICU but ended up in our unit. Most step-downs are considered critical care.

http://www.aacn.org/WD/Certifications/Content/pccnintro.pcms?menu=Certification

Anyways back to the topic at hand.

CandyGyrl · Sep 30, 2009

Thanks everyone for your input. I know that I am wrong to even waste energy on this issue, its petty and insignificant. Its just I thought others may empathize with what I'm going through. I have always been interested in the ICU because of the level of care you provide to and for a patient. I like to pine over charts understand the disease process, complications, medications, IV's, Drains, Chest tubes, aortic balloons... all of that fun stuff. on a Med/Surg unit its way more task oriented, and pushing meds. With Critical Care the patient is complex and requires constant observation and intuition to know when the patients condition is worsening. All of these things intrigue me about the ICU. Always has. I convinced my friends as to why their jobs will be so worthwhile.

As far as my Neuro floor, its a GPU alot of post op patients, a few r/o CVA's or MS changes. Our manager wants everyone to take critical care classes and be ACLS certified especially the newbies. We have patients on telemetry and we need to have a basic understanding of heart rhythms and how to care for our patients when they start to go bad. I love my unit, my co-workers my managers, its an extremely supportive and flexible environment which is very unusual for newbies to come into. I admit I can be a bit spoiled about everything in my life. But this was just my feeling and I was venting a bit. I give 110% because your name is worth more than precious stones and gold and I want people to know that when you work with me I've got your back, I'll give my all and patients are in good hands.