ICU With Most Devices/Technologies

[MurseJJ]

Currently I'm on a neuro stepdown, great unit, great team, planning on being here for at least 2 years. After that the plan is to obtain an ICU position (I was hired into a SICU as a new grad, but it was at a hospital that wasn't my top choice, and the salary was a lot less than what it is at my current institution).

During nursing school, I was very interested in cardiac nursing. Neuro was actually not my interest at all. Now, after almost a year, I can happily say that I love neuro. My hospital has a neuro ICU, and they do a lot of interesting things there (multimodality monitoring-brain oxygenation, microdialysis, etc).

At the same time, I still have an interest in cardiac. Also, I love having a patient with a lot of "stuff" to manage (on my stepdown unit I enjoy caring for a patient on the vent, tube feeds, video EEG, spinal drain, anticonvulsant and other drips, etc). So I'm wondering, which ICU tends to have the most "stuff", i.e. devices, technologies that the RN must be familiar with? At my institution (which is a very high acuity academic center that sees and does everything, including complex/innovative surgeries, all types of transplants, etc), we have MICUx2, SICU, CCUx2, CTICUx2, and Neuro ICU. I know this can vary based on specific institution, but I'm curious about any insight that can be provided. Thanks!

[AJJKRN]

See if your hospital would consider a float position between the ICUs after getting some time under your belt in one of their ICUs.

I would be hesitant to say one area or the other because as a float nurse, every unit I float to has its challenges and the unit you may find that has all the gadgets you're craving my also have culture issues...you never know. Floating gives a broad exposure but also helps to keep one out of the floors politics and can prevent stagnation.

[MurseJJ]

See if your hospital would consider a float position between the ICUs after getting some time under your belt in one of their ICUs.

I would be hesitant to say one area or the other because as a float nurse, every unit I float to has its challenges and the unit you may find that has all the gadgets you're craving my also have culture issues...you never know. Floating gives a broad exposure but also helps to keep one out of the floors politics and can prevent stagnation.

Thanks for the advice! Yes, we do have an ICU float pool, completely forgot about that. That may be the best idea if in the future I still have interests in more than one area. I did get to talk to a friend that did CNS clinical in our hospital's CTICU, and she said it's very intense, often the rooms are so packed with pumps, chest tubes, ECMO, etc. Sounds scary, but I'm somewhat intrigued. Maybe I'll find out if I could shadow in both the Neuro ICU and CTICU to see what they're really like for myself from the bedside RN perspective.

[KeepinitrealCCRN]

float pool can be fun if you like moving around. typically you will not get the sickest pts when you're in the float pool since you are not familiar with the special equipment for certain pt types like evds or balloon pumps etc. sounds like your best bet is CTICU or SICU but it really depends on the hospital and the acuity of the pts.