SICURN19

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actually I will say that procedure based nursing isn't bad. For example, while my specific department was toxic and I needed to leave, IR nursing itself was fine and I actually liked my job. I sedated patients (moderate sedation) and managed them during procedures. Interesting and it's one patient at a time. If I could transition back to IR from ICU right now I probably would but my current hospital requires a couple years ICU experience (my other didn't, started IR as a new grad). However, procedure areas typically do not count toward CRNA school experience requirements.

Just started ICU about a month ago, was so excited. The bubble has officially burst. It's not worth it. Sticking it out for about 6 months if I can tolerate it and then running back to public health.

I sincerely wish I could go back to 2018 me and stop me from enrolling in nursing school. I have to say I have made a lot more money as a result of getting my RN (working Covid OT and nursing as a side hustle while maintaining my 9-5 when I stepped away from clinical for about a year) than I would have otherwise but I can't say it's worth it. I'm tired.

I went to nursing school as a second career move, I thought I wanted to be an acute care NP. After working as a nurse for just a month Covid hit and everything changed. I went back to my desk job that I had before nursing school after 1.5 years of Covid, mainly working in a procedure area but floating to Covid floors to help. I have always wanted to be an ICU nurse so being back at my desk job got a bit boring and I missed traumas, etc so I applied for a SICU position and started working in May. Now that I'm a little over a month in I have some major regrets... I just don't think I actually like being a nurse. Or maybe it's the bedside thing that I don't like because I was procedural before. I find nursing a bit impossible. Always asked to do more with less, more documentation, more demands from family, more orders from the team, trying to transport one pt to CT while the other needs just as many things, everything that goes wrong is your fault, I'm an idiot because I don't have 'MD' next to my name according to most family members and even many providers (sorry but the PAs have by far been the worst)... The support for nursing is just not there from an administrative level, no matter what hospital you're at because I am at a 'top ten' hospital and it sure doesn't feel like it... I'm starting to think the healthcare system is broken beyond repair and my lifelong dream of becoming a provider in medicine is just slowly being crushed by the mega business that healthcare has become. I don't know whether to stick it out longer or just go back to my peaceful, 9-5 public health desk job before I lose that for good and get stuck in nursing. Seeing so many people leaving and hearing the complaints and seeing the exhaustion from my coworkers who have been doing this for years is just making me want to run, especially when I can honestly say my heart isn't in it. Or maybe I don't want to be in the ICU, or bedside for that matter, after all. I'm really torn, I don't want to give up too early, maybe I just need to give it a chance, but on the other hand I have been in and out of the medical field for years (just not as a nurse until about 2 years ago) and maybe what I've always known is just clicking -- that healthcare, and now I can say nursing, just kind of sucks. LOL I'm being a bit facetious but seriously, is it just time to throw in the towel on healthcare? I'm not scared at work or terrified (although there are moments) I'm mainly just blah about being there and dread going in because of how much running I'm going to do without ever feeling like I accomplished anything, getting attitude from pretentious family members, and how tired I'm going to be by the time I get home just to do it all over again the next day. The excessive, BS liability charting literally makes me want to bang my head against a wall just thinking about it. Please help.

This is basically exactly what I did. Continued applying to the units I wanted to interview for over a period of 10 months and I finally got a call. And then an offer. You have to just keep putting your name out there.

I definitely think it depends on the recruiter. I worked with two and one was very efficient, quick, moved things along (I almost felt rushed) and the other much slower. Keep applying

Hi! Any follow up on your offer? Did you take the job? How has it been working there if you did? Hi! Any updates? How's your orientation going? I will be starting in a few weeks, looking for advice/insight.

Do you have any advice now for someone in your 'old' shoes?? I am starting a new SICU job in t-8 weeks and my only experience is IR. I'm excited but also terrified. I've never done bedside nursing (other than some assistive shifts during covid surges and my residency) so I essentially feel like a new grad. I have 1.5 years of experience.

In my experience listing my capstone helped me get my first job. I agree that listing all clinicals is kind of generic but I think there is value in listing your capstone, especially if it was in a specialty or an area of nursing that is relevant to units you are applying to.

Definitely keep all the clinical experiences but list the student clinicals separately from your professional experiences (agree with in the education section of your resume, literally just list them). It's all about how you explain it when asked about previous work. But in my opinion not having the short med-surg job is worse than explaining why it didn't work out, you can always spin this to reflect positively on yourself if you just practice your response. Also, the vaccination work is relevant, again, it's all about how you explain it. You are selling yourself in interviews. You can speak about things in a way that is positive no matter what the experience is. With the vaccinations, you maybe were putting off working acute care because vaccinating as much of the public as possible was critical to the pandemic response. I would word this as a purposeful decision that you made because you wanted to help with the covid response efforts (something that I hope happens only once in our lifetime), do not speak about it as a circumstance that you just found yourself in. Making it purposeful exudes confidence and a desire to assist in a public health crisis which is admirable. As far as separating them or combining them, I'd leave them separate because they sound like different experiences. Just as a side note, I also left acute care to help with covid public health response and worked at vaccination sites (in an oversight role actually, not vaccinating). I just accepted a position at one of the NYP hospitals ? so it is possible. Nursing has many different applications and they are all relevant. Just don't question your decisions during an interview, why would they have confidence in you if you don't?

Get an entry level position at a smaller hospital, or even outpatient, work for a year and then start applying to jobs you really like. My advice would be to limit your applications to a specific specialty or unit that you want to work on. For example, if you are applying within the NYP network it all goes through Workday (their online application/onboarding platform) and the recruiters at all the hospitals in the system can see what other jobs you've applied to. If you are all over the place that doesn't look good, it looks like you will take anything and don't know what you want. Keep getting experience where you are, and apply to the same units or areas where you want to work. You will eventually have enough experience and they will call. I applied to the same unit three-four times over the last 10 months and finally got an interview and then an offer. It takes time and persistence, but focused persistence. I was not applying to multiple jobs, only that specific unit and maybe two other positions on similar units at the other hospitals, but I kept it in the same specialty to let them know I was serious. They may offer other units after they call you but let them do that, don't go crazy applying to all kinds of jobs. The recruiters gauge your potential first way before the managers see your resume, you're appealing to them really so think about what recruiters look for in a solid candidate, not necessarily what your desired unit might look for, that comes after the recruiters 'notice' you. They are the gatekeepers.

What is the hourly rate? How many hours is the 101k based on (ie. 36 vs. 40)

I recently accepted an offer for a surgical trauma ICU in the city and I am ecstatic. I have about 1.5 years of acute care experience, mostly in IR, but also floated voluntarily to med/surg and ICU during covid for assistive shifts and in that time learned alot. I was able to use this to supplement my IR experience (which is zero bedside and can be tricky when you want to move to an ICU) and put alot of emphasis on this experience and that it was voluntary during my interview to show that I am motivated and OK with being challenged. I absolutely do not have the typical experience they look for, but was able to highlight some key strengths and was also persistent. I think I applied to this particular unit at least 3 times over the last 10ish months. There's also a nursing shortage... so now is the time to act and apply to the units that you really love even though you may fall short of the qualifications. I always say, let them decide if they think you are qualified to work on their unit.