Opinions of working in iccu?

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I just recently transfered from working as a phlebotomist in the laboratory to a nurse assistant in ICCU. I start tomorrow!!! I am very excited. I am currently attending Chamberlain College of Nursing and getting my BSN. My question in what do you ICCU nurses think about it? I want to learn so much and pick apart the nurses brains when I actually start to work on the floor with them. For the past year I have been cooped up in the basement by the morgue!!!! I have been waiting patiently to transfer to work with the nurses. I think its going to be a great experience! :yeah:

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Specializes in OR, peds, PALS, ICU, camp, school.

ICCU should be a great experience! Let us know how it goes!

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Specializes in ICU.

i say good luck to you and learn all that you can. personally, i enjoy working with our techs/nurse assistants who want to learn, are motivated and excited about what they are doing. you will probably find out very quickly that there are two types of nurses- nurses who love to teach other people and nurses who don't. i would suggest picking the brains as you said of those who enjoy teaching and be helpful and a good coworker to those who don't enjoy teaching, but don't get your feelings hurt if they are not that helpful to you. sounds like a good opportunity- good luck and learn lots!

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Specializes in ICU.

When I was a CNA, I looooooved floating to ICU! The ICU nurses at my hospital are just amazing...they're always willing to let me watch bedside proceedures and answer silly questions about the drips they're running and how they make decisions in a rapid response or code situation. Even though I'm not working as a CNA anymore, I still spend most of my "free" time at work in the ICU, pestering my nurse friends.

Some CNAs didn't like being floated to the ICU since the nurses there are pretty autonomous...they don't get a tech very often (well, they qualify for one or two every shift but when the floors are short the ICU CNA always gets pulled first), so they're used to doing their own FSBS and daily care. The CNAs that don't like going complain of spending all their time stocking IV carts and running lab/blood. Sure, that's a part of it, but if you let the nurses know in my ICU that you're interested in seeing procedures and helping them, they will come get you when things are going on.

To have a good experience in my ICU working as a CNA, you have to be proactive and forward and let the nurses know you want to help them. I love my ICU. :)

Congrats on the new job, I hope you love it!

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OKAY! day 1 of the CNA class was today and jeez lemme just say I will never ever underestimate a CNA ever again! The class was about 15 of us, mostly new to the hospital except for another woman and I. I came from LAB as a phlebotomist. So the first thing we learned was the vital signs and our instructor said that even though they have electronic vital machines now, she wants us to do nothing but old fashion manual. That was a challenge in its self lol seeing that I have never touched that equipment before. After working with the pump and listening for the systolic and diastolic I felt much better. After working with several patients, we moved onto respirations and pulses and temp and so on....We also did practice vital charts filling them out. I was exhausted because I was working 230 to 11pm in the lab and that totally switched on me to 8 am to 4 pm for these classes lol..............Bottom line was It was a shock at how much there is entailed in nursing support. It just made me more excited for nursing school this summer!!!!!!!!!!! YAY :monkeydance:

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OH YEAH!!! Bought my 1st stethiscope today... Kinda makes ya feel good lol:clown:

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