ICU NEW NURSE

MedicRU, RN · Apr 11, 2019

As a former Trauma ICU nurse, I'd like to give you some pointers that might be helpful:

- You will likely be asked about why you want to enter Critical Care, why did you decide to go to ICU and not the PACU first, as OR is not directly the path to ICU.

- You will be asked how you'd prioritize critical care patients. There are usually 2 : 1 ratio.

- You will be asked if you enjoy close team work. ICU is like a submarine, close space, constant vigilance and almost always all hands on deck. You will not only manage your patients, but also manage someone else's patients on downtime and in between.

- You will be asked what it would take to make it in ICU and why they should choose you, i.e. critical thinking, willingness to do more under stress, etc.

- You will be asked about your long-term goals. ICU's need young, healthy and quick doers, and ICU's don't like people coming and going.

- Know your critical care basics when it comes to Vents, A-lines, central lines, arrhythmias, vasopressors, CCRT, ECMO (if applicable), etc.

- Be willing to be flexible in reference to schedule.

- Tell them you like watching monitors not miss any patients suddenly going south.

If offered a job, you'd need to have this book: "Essentials of Critical Care Nursing" by Susan N. Burns (Third edition and later).

Good luck and welcome to the hell world of ICU (no pun intended)! You'll either love it or leave it.

nenitabani · Apr 12, 2019

Thanks you so much. I did started as pacu nurse for a few nurse but them they put me as an pre_ OP nurse because they needed it someone that speak English and Spanish until they find someone but it seems that that they never will. I love ICU since I did my rotations as a student it was always my choice. And now I have the opportunity to actually be I the speciality I love, but I feel lost. Thank you very much for your guidance

MedicRU, RN · Apr 12, 2019

13 hours ago, nenitabani said:
Thanks you so much. I did started as pacu nurse for a few nurse but them they put me as an pre_ OP nurse because they needed it someone that speak English and Spanish until they find someone but it seems that that they never will. I love ICU since I did my rotations as a student it was always my choice. And now I have the opportunity to actually be I the speciality I love, but I feel lost. Thank you very much for your guidance

You're welcome and I hope you do get a job. ICU is a tough specialty but is very rewarding one, the one that really makes you think before you do.

Just to add to the above said:

If you really want to impress your unit manager, read about things like PRIS (propofol induced syndrome), difference between osmotic diuretic such as Mannitol vs 3% Hypertonic saline and when one is given over the other; Or, tell them when you would think Dilaudid drip would be better than Fentanyl drip; Or Precedex vs Propofol vs Versed for sedation; One of the most important aspects is HAI's (hospital acquired infections), be sure to mention that you know what leads to it (vents, catheters, wound vac, chest tubes), as well as some that are more dangerous than others, i.e. Candida Albicans, Candida Auris.

Also, Sepsis treatment protocols have changed recently and nurses need to know why multi-liter fluid resuscitation and prolonged vasopressor drips are no longer the recommended approach.

Hope this helps!

nenitabani · Apr 13, 2019

On 4/12/2019 at 1:36 PM, MedicRU said:
You're welcome and I hope you do get a job. ICU is a tough specialty but is very rewarding one, the one that really makes you think before you do.
Just to add to the above said:
If you really want to impress your unit manager, read about things like PRIS (propofol induced syndrome), difference between osmotic diuretic such as Mannitol vs 3% Hypertonic saline and when one is given over the other; Or, tell them when you would think Dilaudid drip would be better than Fentanyl drip; Or Precedex vs Propofol vs Versed for sedation; One of the most important aspects is HAI's (hospital acquired infections), be sure to mention that you know what leads to it (vents, catheters, wound vac, chest tubes), as well as some that are more dangerous than others, i.e. Candida Albicans, Candida Auris.
Also, Sepsis treatment protocols have changed recently and nurses need to know why multi-liter fluid resuscitation and prolonged vasopressor drips are no longer the recommended approach.
Hope this helps!

Hi.. I got the job.. Very excited thanks again for all the information. She told me to go over the anatomy and physiology of the brain and learn the most used med In neuro ICU to have an idea.