New Grad RN going to ICU Stepdown

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Specializes in New R.N..

I am new grad and just recently passed my NCLEX. I'll be starting my career in the ICU stepdown, any advice anyone? thanks

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I'm right there with you so no advice but good luck to both of us!

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I am new grad and just recently passed my NCLEX. I'll be starting my career in the ICU stepdown, any advice anyone? thanks

Check out http://www.icufaqs.org and best wishes!

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Specializes in Cardiac, ER.

Congrats on your new career!!! I hope you love it as much as most of us do! Please remember that many of us get on this website to VENT! We may say some really horrible things about nursing in general, whine about working conditions, co workers and all the red tape,. but I think the majority of us really do love our jobs!! This is a great way to let off a bit of steam w/o upsetting those we work with!

That said, I think step down is a great place for a new grad. Usually the pt/RN ratio is smaller than a med surg floor, which helps keep the "ohhhh my gosh how can I ever get everything done" factor to a minimum. Just remember that you aren't expected to know everything! Your peers who have been there for years won't know everything (if they say they do they are lying;)). Just watch, ask lots of questions and NEVER, Never ever do something that you really don't think you know how to do!!! Look up your meds, talk to resp about vents, ask questions often like "last week my pt with XYZ was tx w/ X this week a similar pt is being tx w/ Y, why is that? Or " I noticed that you did XXX, I was taught to do it YYY,.why did you do it different?" Remeber too that there is often many RIGHT ways to do things. Depending on when and where you went to school we all have different experiences and that's ok. If your hospital has a policy on how,when,why something is done you always follow policy!

Some of my pet peeves w/new grads is that they don't want to look stupid, or they don't want to bother the other nurses who are just as busy as they are. That attitude can lead to mistakes. Ask, sometimes just saying something outloud can be all it takes for it to suddenly "click" in your mind and you can answer your own question!!:lol2: I'm currently in a very busy ER, we are all busy,.but it is very very common for someone to walk next to me and say "hey,.I need to give X amount of drug B, I have a bag of Ymg in Zml's, I'm setting my pump to run at ##ml,..right?" Or someone might just say "hey I can mix drug A w/ drug B in the same syringe, right?,.it's okay to just push X right?" Just ask questions, watch what others do,.try to find someone that seems to be the type of nurse you want to be and observe!

One other thing, if you don't get an answer that makes sene to you, ask again, look it up, something,.again never do something that your aren't comfortable with!! (you will occasionally get bad advice from your co workers)

Good luck,..be strong, come home from work and log on to AllNurses and vent with the rest of us,.maybe we can help!!!

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Specializes in New R.N..

Thanks everyone!!! I really appreciate it!!

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