Peds home health RN to PICU? Should I jump ship?

[cocccocc006]

Hi there!

I'm a new RN with about a year experience in acute inpatient adolescent psych and half a year of pediatric home health for medically fragile children. I love my current job because it is pretty easy going (1:1, NOC, kids tend to sleep at night so, viola ) and I learned a lot from it too. But recently I've been wanting to do acute/critical pediatric nursing in a hospital setting. I applied for some PICU/general peds jobs and now I need some advice:

-To PICU nurses that work with former home health nurses, was their experience in peds home health valuable to them when they transferred to PICU? What do you think of home health nurse's chance of getting into PICU?

-My job at the home health agency is quite stable, it pays quite low compares to what hospitals are paying for BSNs, it offers no healthcare, and I have to commute quite far to work. However, it is very supportive and so very welcoming. I feel very guilty for potentially leaving it because they don't have many nurses. What would you suggest that I do? If I were to leave, what should I say to my supervisor?

Thank you guys in advance!!!!

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I made the exact jump- peds home care to PICU. EXCEPT I kept my home care position 1 night/ week. (Because I loved the family I was with)

It was HARD but doable. Much to learn on the acute side- my advice would be buy a copy of AACNs Core Curriculum for Peds Critical Care and start reading.

Your advantage is peds experience plus vent management skills. In my case, I knew more about the LTV that the PICU RTs did- and so was able to educate them while they educated ME about the hospital vent! Win/ Win

[cocccocc006]

Thank you so much for your response!! Did you do a residency program when you were at PICU? I'm thinking of doing PRN at my current agency if I were to get the PICU job, but I'm afraid of talking to them about accepting another job I love home health too but that's not my passion..

I got the Hazinski book edition 3 a week ago, it's SO useful but also pretty in depth! Besides asking/learning from experienced PICU nurses, how far in depth would you suggest to go into when learning about a new medication or diagnosis? How long did it take you to feel comfortable?

Thank you!!