Leaving PICU...

[RNsydneygirl]

After almost a year in PICU it just isn't my place and I don't see my future there. My shifts are so chalk/cheese, some days the patient is critically unwell, others they're LTC who can't leave the ICU yet due to the nature of the hospital... when I get these shifts I feel like Im babysitting.

The progression is so slow it will be years before I touch the filter and ECMO. I'm not saying I deserve to do those immediately, they require advanced knowledge and training, but that's what I came here for and I'm disappointed.

the hard thing is that the rostering is actually really great !!

Hard decision about leaving vs staying. I feel at this point I should return to ER which treats both adult and children, that's where I was before and I LOVED going to work. I am now in a new state so it could be diffrent. I think I'd love to get a facilitor job in ER and teach new nurses clinically.

just a rant ! Wanted to if anyone else out there feels the same about PICU!!

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I find myself mildly bothered by the tone of your comments. You haven't worked PICU for a full year yet but feel like you're spinning your wheels already. Do you honestly feel like you know everything there is to learn about critically ill children? The unit where I work is very progressive in terms of advancing staff through a clinical ladder; 2 years full-time experience is required before anyone is permitted to learn CRRT or ECMO. Think of these modalities of treatment like juggling. You can't learn to juggle chainsaws until you're good at juggling rubber balls. It's essential that you understand the multiplicity of implications they bring with them before you attempt to master them and you can't do that without adequate time and practice.

Those LTC kids you're so disparaging of deserve expert care just as much as any other patient. If they didn't require specialized, skilled and astute nursing care, they'd not be in PICU. Guess what... they're the ones that actually need nurses with excellent assessment skills and judgment. Too many times I've hard someone say, "Oh, that's just Jimmy. He does that," only to learn later that "Jimmy" had actually suffered a serious event or illness and was left more severely affected than ever. And let's not forget that although we may not see much value to their existence, they have families who love them. Are you paid any less for those "babysitting" shifts? Of course not.

Given that you're not engaged and are openly critical of the pace of advancement there, it's perhaps for the best if you do choose another area of nursing to focus on.