new grad in first year on ICU/CCU..need to leave

[gxsr]

I am on a critical care unit as a new grad for a little over 9months. I was an intern on the unit for a year, and was lucky to be one of the first new grad hires in critical care in the entire hospital, in over three years. The job isn't bad, and I am not nervous....I just don't like the chaos of it. The fast paced nature is not me. I am a second degree student, who has worked in psych for over twelve years. I prefer a more manageable job, with less chaos. I am going back to school in a few months for my NP, that is the only reason I transferred from an IVY league Pre-medical post baccalaureate program to nursing in the first place. I was originally going to go to medical school and be a psychiatrist, but with being married and a child on the way...a Psych NP seemed more appropriate. So now I have applied for a float position at a much smaller hospital, and will have the opportunity to float amongst Med Surg units and possibly get cross trained in the Maternity Unit(which I really liked and wanted when in school). Am I crazy...?...Am I just thinking the grass is always greener on the other side?

[ajt575s]

Have you thought about working in a psych unit/facility? If you want to be a psych NP, I would think you'd need the experience working as a nurse in psych, and it sounds like that's a better fit for you than critical care.

[gxsr]

I worked in a psych facility for over two years. I am not a fan of restraining people and giving haladol injections. While not all of the units are like that, most are where I live. I worked 12 years a treatment coordinator and behavior specialist. Going to the psych facility may be different as a nurse though....maybe a different experience. My previous experience was in the psych facility's ER/admission...which was very tough because of the acuity.

[Lifeofanurse]

My feeling would be that ..you said you have a baby on the way. I wouldn't want to do psych or ER being pregnant.

I would rather do a slower pace and easier on your body...maybe preop? pacu?

[gxsr]

I'm a guy:)...lol thanks for the advice.

[Lillian2515]

I'm a new grad on an adult med/surg unit that gets the overflow from critical care....and I'm at a small community hospital. (Graduated with a BSN from an Ivy League school.) Med/surg is very fast paced. We are understaffed at all times and overworked. Nurse patient ratio is 1:5 (or higher) and level of acuity is not taken into consideration for assignments. I generally get no breaks and no lunch. If there is a way you can meet someone who's already employed at the hospital or unit you want to transfer to, and you can get an honest answer from them about working conditions, you will be better prepared. The only information I had to work with was the information I received during my interviewing process and everything sounded like it was going to be a great experience for my first job. I personally will probably be one of the new grads that quits nursing in the first year. As I talk to more experienced nurses it seems that med/surg is always a dumping ground and the nurses are always overworked in these units. I've been there for three months and every day I work on figuring out a way to use my degree for something else. I wanted to try to tough it out for the magical "year of experience" so I could move on to a more specific unit....but I don't think I can. Just sharing my personal experience.....please don't criticize me for that......Good luck to you.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

hmmmm, what ivy league school has a nursing program? upenn, cornell-- is cornell's still open? maybe not... none of the others, though yale has a great graduate program and dartmouth is starting an amazing interdisciplinary graduate program for health research and admin.

point is, you might not want to identify yourself this much-- it may be possible that someone will recognize you.