ICU Nurse needs advice

Sun0408, ASN, RN · Sep 14, 2013

You've been there 8 weeks, this is really normal to not feel comfortable with everything yet. Are you still in orientation, do you have the support you need working the unit?? It takes time. Acute care is a different ballgame than what you are used too. If your depression and anxiety is holding you back, please seek medical attention..

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Sep 14, 2013

You really need to give it a year. ICU can be so over whelming at first....I think it took me 6 months to not cry every day into and home from work.....I ended up LOVING it and stayed critical care/emergency medicine for the 35 years I have been a nurse. It takes time....at least a year.....so I would hang in there and know that you aren't alone.

As far as you retirement....one year will not make you vested in any plan. Usuaqlly it is 5 years before you are vested. I have a family member that just started there in another specialty area of the clinic. I ti over whelmiong but yo are working at one of the premier facilities in the country! They must have seen something in you to hire you! ((HUGS))

Socrates12358 · Sep 14, 2013

Yes I am in orientation still but only have a few more weeks left. I worked yesterday, with a cold, and it was awful. It was the first time I broke down crying. I've dealt with depression since the 3rd grade and I take Prozac to help.

beckster_01, BSN, RN · Sep 14, 2013

I am with the previous posters. It would be very abnormal to not experience stress and anxiety when starting ANY new job, let alone in the ICU. My advice is to look at each day (or each hour) individually rather than as a whole. Celebrate your successes, and learn from your mistakes. Take advantage of having a preceptor who won't let you put your patient in danger. Are you on orientation for 3 or 6 months? I would think that if this is your first experience in acute care 6 months would be appropriate.

As far as your chronic depression/anxiety, it might be helpful to search allnurses for articles and threads on the topic. There are countless nurses here who manage a multitude of mental disorders, and you might get some great tactics from them by reading their posts.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Sep 14, 2013

You really need to give it more time. 8 weeks is nothing. If you feel like you will need more orientation time talk with your manager and preceptor about what your specific concerns are.

alrighThen · Sep 14, 2013

It sounds like our backgrounds are similar. I agree that 8 weeks is not enough time to feel comfortable. I second the posters who mention speaking to your manager. This is a valuable opportunity for you and I would do everything you can to get through it.

But as always, your health comes first. I can tell you that I know how you feel and that time will help. It's been a year for me in the ICU and I still dislike the stuff that 'gets in the way' when all I want to do is make my patient comfortable and look tidy in bed.

That's a generalization I know and it sounds simplistic but I definitely hold the years I spent in the nursing home close to my heart. I wouldn't mind going back and it grinds my nerves when I hear ICU nurses saying they would 'rather live in their moms basement and be a bum than work in a nursing home.' A new grad orientee said that to me the other day. That's for another thread.

Good luck, stay calm.

Megan

multi10 · Sep 15, 2013

Focus on an area that you find interesting. For me, it was pulmonary. I was fascinated by ABGs. We drew them ourselves, sometimes by stick. Every day was exciting because I learned so much. This was a teaching university hospital so the interns were learning as well. And the respiratory therapists were fantastic.

I also came to love cardiac, renal, hepatic, etc., and the interplay among all systems. I think that if you look at the wonder of ICU, and your role in that world, you'll fall in love with it. But it does take awhile and it's different for each person. Rome wasn't built in a day. (Forgive the cliche.)

Use the resources available to you such as your own personal healthcare provider as well as your preceptor, etc. in the workplace. Hug your hubby and kids and pets (if you have them). Have happy hours at your house on Friday nights and invite your friends and talk, and laugh your head off. Go to church if you find comfort there.

Also, try to treat yourself well. That's probably the most important thing.

Annaiya, NP · Sep 15, 2013

Why did you apply to the ICU to begin with? Maybe focus on the parts you're interested in and why you are there.

Also, they often give you the sickest patients during orientation, so you can get used to it and then once you're off orientation, they give you the easy stuff to start. Maybe you need a week of the easy stuff, so you feel more comfortable that you can handle a typical new nurse assignment.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2013

Yes I am in orientation still but only have a few more weeks left. I worked yesterday, with a cold, and it was awful. It was the first time I broke down crying. I've dealt with depression since the 3rd grade and I take Prozac to help.

We have all had those days ...and we have all had those doubts....we have all worked sick.....you are not alone ...check out this forum....First Year After Nursing Licensure

JoseQuinones · Sep 15, 2013

I have been on both ends of the spectrum, as a new employee and as a boss of new employees, training them. High-stress, high detail jobs like nursing and the field I am leaving can really wring you dry when you're in a new position. I will say that looking back over my years of managing a department, the blame for stress on new hires can be placed squarely on management. When they - we - fail to think through how we hire people, how we interview them, and how we train them, they are left with huge gaps in understanding of the position they take on. Not knowing where to go, what to do, whom to speak with about problems as they arise, what we get in trouble about (and what is no sweat), all of these are questions that have to do with the unique ethos of a place. And they must be told. Taught. Written down. Given on a plate. My first two hires quit within weeks of their coming on board, and today I realize it was my fault. I learned from my mistakes and things have been much more pleasant with the latest few. So, just a thought - speak with your supervisor and ask if there was anything about orientation that you still need to learn. Maybe it's their first hire. Maybe HR just threw you in their lap. Maybe, frankly, no one on your floor is actually your boss, and they are all afraid to get too close to you lest they look bad to upper management. Ask questions. Be persistent. It's your life, your paycheck, and your career. You're worth it. You're a professional, for pete's sake!

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2013

Yes I am in orientation still but only have a few more weeks left. I worked yesterday, with a cold, and it was awful. It was the first time I broke down crying. I've dealt with depression since the 3rd grade and I take Prozac to help.

OK, then, time for a tuneup with your provider. This new job change is a qualifying event. :)

It will get better. I know how hard it is to see past an acute exacerbation of depression-- and you do too. See your MH provider, and if it's a GP prescribing for you, get a referral to a real psych for the tune-up. Nothing to fear about that, and it will make you feel better and more able to provide for your family and yourself.