New Grads Going to PICU???

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Specializes in Pediatric critical care.

I start working as a new grad on PICU on Monday. I am very excited, but at the same time a little nervous.

I was just wondering if there were any other new grads going to PICU and if you have already started how has the experience going so far?

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you're so lucky!!! i know you'll do good! :hrnsmlys:

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Specializes in Surgical Telemetry.

That's where I would love to go but I couldn't manage to land a job in that area right out of school... I'll do some time on a step-down unit and try again once I have experience. But congratulations, wish I had some advice for you.

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Specializes in Ortho/Neurosurgical.
That's where I would love to go but I couldn't manage to land a job in that area right out of school... I'll do some time on a step-down unit and try again once I have experience. But congratulations, wish I had some advice for you.

We have a hospital down here called All Children's Hospital which offers internship program for graduate nurses. Their program allows graduate nurses to go into the OR, ICU, ER...all kinds of specialties. It's pretty cool. I just finished my pediatric clinicals in May and um, I'm steering clear of peds for now. I still don't know what I want to be when I'm a big kid.

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Specializes in Pediatric critical care.
That's where I would love to go but I couldn't manage to land a job in that area right out of school... I'll do some time on a step-down unit and try again once I have experience. But congratulations, wish I had some advice for you.

Thanks! I got really lucky. Most of the places I applied considered me to have ICU experience because I did a summer externship and I worked as a care parter or you all may call them techs on a Burn/Trauma and Neuro ICU. Loved it!! Wanted to give kiddos a try though. We'll see. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm sure you'll enjoy step-down though. Congrats to you as well!!!!

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Specializes in Peds/PICU.

Hey there!

I am a new grad that was just hired for Peds/PICU. They are gonna start me off on the peds side first but after a few months train me in the PICU so I can float. They have a critical care course you take on line that is suppose to help you lots. Maybe your hospital has something similar you can look over.

I talked to other new grads they hired straight into the PICU and found the hardest part isnt the nursing care but dealing with the patients who are not ever going to get better. Most of the kids we get are chronically ill and will most likely not get off the vent their whole life. They wanted to really make sure I could handle that sort of patient before hiring me.

I noticed this was posted awhile ago. Maybe you can give an update on how things are going? I should start in the next 2 weeks and I am kinda nervous as well.

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Specializes in Pediatric critical care.
Hey there!

I am a new grad that was just hired for Peds/PICU. They are gonna start me off on the peds side first but after a few months train me in the PICU so I can float. They have a critical care course you take on line that is suppose to help you lots. Maybe your hospital has something similar you can look over.

I talked to other new grads they hired straight into the PICU and found the hardest part isnt the nursing care but dealing with the patients who are not ever going to get better. Most of the kids we get are chronically ill and will most likely not get off the vent their whole life. They wanted to really make sure I could handle that sort of patient before hiring me.

I noticed this was posted awhile ago. Maybe you can give an update on how things are going? I should start in the next 2 weeks and I am kinda nervous as well.

We don't have any critical course online, but we do have some pediatric classes that we are required to attend, such as congenital heart defects and dialysis. I am required to take PALS and I have also been placed in new graduate classes, but those are for new grads throughout the hospital and aren't peds specific.

We get a lot of really ill kids as well, but at our picu, the docs try really really hard not to keep the kids vented. However we do have some who have been vented for months, as well as some who have been there for months and are no longer vented.

Things are going quite well for me and I like it a lot, the kids are just so cute. I was nervous in the beginning, but I think you'll be nervous wherever you start. Let me know how it goes. Good luck.

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