NEED ADVICE! New to CTICU and in DNP school both Full time

[guziRN, BSN]

Can someone please tell me what I should do and if I'm in over my head ?

I am an experienced ICU nurse but have mainly been in a Surgical trauma ICU and MICU and have a little experience in Burn and Neuro. Soooo everything other than Cardiac. I recently moved so I just started a new job in a CTICU and I think I hate it. :(  It has been challenging because this unit gets mostly new grads and I don't think they know how to train when you come in with experience.  They over-explain things that I know but don't explain things I don't AKA everything having to do with the cardiac cases!!. They have basically just told me I need to read up on it and study at home.  I am already feeling extremely overwhelmed and don't with not enough time to study for my school work, I am in an Acute care DNP program. I don't think they should be asking me to do things off the workhouse they aren't teaching me while I'm there.  It's also just bad timing because I am in midterms and just dealing with a few personal things that have added to the stress and anxiety. I really want/ need to be making money but with everything in my life, I am just feeling so unhappy every time I go to work. I really want to snap out of it and give this new job a chance, does anyone have advice?

general tips on surviving in a CTICU? dealing with the nurses and the doctors? 

Am I wrong for not being open to studying more when I'm not getting paid? 

how should I approach my preceptors when I'm not feeling heard and just feel like my experience isn't being valued?    (and basically just expected to watch in situations I can handle/ or being micromanaged)

does anyone have experience with sunrise charting system? does it ever get easier?

 

 

 

[londonflo]

20 minutes ago, guziRN said:

. I don't think they should be asking me to do things off the workhouse they aren't teaching me while I'm there. 

It is always stressful to start a new job in a new area. And you have 3 stressors identified in your post - moving, a new job, and enrollment in a professional program that will lead to you being an expert practitioner and leader.   You have a lot on your plate. But a true professional does expend the effort and time to acquire any necessary knowledge on their own to perform their job to the best of their ability . That's what makes us a profession. Can you stop your degree for a semester to acclimate yourself to your new position? Can you change your job to an area you are already an expert in? Just my thought...I wish you all the best in your endeavors!

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

You've definitely got a lot going on, over your head is really something only you can determine, but it would be a lot for anyone. It's unfortunate if you feel that the approach to teaching isn't helping you, but I can't really agree with your statement that you shouldn't have to learn when you're off the clock. I spent much of my days off when I was new in ICU looking up videos and supplemental material to help me in my practice. I'm sure that doubling up a new critical care job with a DNP program might be an overwhelming amount of work. If you don't think you like the job, can you get back to a SICU/MICU that's more in your comfort zone? Some of the patients in a CVICU are super sick. If it doesn't align with your future career goals I can understand why you don't want to invest a lot of time into learning, but those patients deserve to have nurses that doctors that are investing in their job, too. You might approach your management about how the teaching is carried out and mention where you think they could use additional resources for people coming into the unit. But you do own a lot of the responsibility for being a competent part of the healthcare team. Good luck.