PICU, NICU, CVICU, or ???

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Hi all,

I am about to graduate from RN school (ADN) in December. All this time I thought I wanted to be an ER nurse. As I begin my pediatric rotation, I feel this emerging passion to work with kiddos. I am strongly drawn to the NICU, PICU, and CVICU. I am wondering about other peoples' experiences with each of these and how I can make a decision without really ever been a "real nurse" (yet) in each of these departments? Any guidance would be appreciated. I do plan on becoming a Nurse Practitioner one day.

Thanks!

Georgia

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Specializes in trauma ICU,TNCC, NRP, PALS, ACLS.

I work at a hosiptal where i have crossed trained in picu, nicu, cvicu and ticu. From my experience, its just what every your passion is, do you like general med/surg, hearts or neonate?

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I LOVED my rotation in the PICU. I loved everything about it - my nurse, my kids, their parents. The next week I went to CVICU. It was my last day, so I left the floor early, and PICU is still my favorite. I just started my preceptorship in the ER. 100 hours, and then I'm done!!

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I always knew I wanted to do children's critical care. So, when I got an offer in a peds cardiac ICU, I was thrilled but terrified. In nursing school, I absolutely hated the heart. How ironic! I have only been in the unit for 5 months but I love love love it. PCICU will definately keep you on your toes. Even though you are focused on the heart, your kids still have all sorts of other problems. You will see many of the same things you would see on a med-surg floor or PICU. I did a rotation in PICU for two weeks for our job and while I did like it, I prefer cardiac. Many people say that cardiac ICU limits your practice, but there is still so much to learn and it is very challenging. Your post-op patients are unstable and require alot of interventions that keep you running all day. They are the ones I enjoy taking while I am with my preceptor, I learn so much.

That being said, it all depends on what you are most passionate about. However, look at me, I hated hearts and now love it! If you end up somewhere you don't enjoy, you can always switch it up!

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Thanks for the feedback, Chickidee! I'm currently doing my preceptorship in the ER, and I love it. I love the fast pace and some of the crazy people that come in - haha! Right now I'm just building my confidence when doing skills and working on some time management. It's definitely hard work, but I think I'm going to be pretty good at it. I did apply for the PICU, but there were over 700 applications at that hospital for the RN Residency (new grad) program. Very competitive! I'm so happy you love what you are doing. I also love the heart, and I love neuro stuff, too.

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Best of luck to you!

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

I'm a NICU nurse and I just floated to PICU --- OMG I do NOT want to be a PICU nurse EVER. They gave me a "super easy" assignment by their standards but it's a "hard" assignment NICU wise. I think I'll stick with the babies.

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