ricki76

Ever since I’ve been working ICU, friends / old coworkers (non-ICU) will request for me to be the nurse for their families/friends in ICU because they think they will somehow get “VIP” treatment if I’m their nurse. I work with a highly skilled, awesome team of people and honestly I would let any one of them care for my family member if they were sick. I personally am not comfortable caring for people I know outside of the hospital, especially being in critical care where situations get complicated and we are often the bearers of bad news, with patients and families often reacting in strange and unpredictable ways. What would be your response to an old friend/coworker asking for you to be their friend/family’s nurse?

Honestly, I can't imagine not making this change and going to ICU. It was a steep learning curve, but my onc/med-surg experience prepared me well. The burnout is a different kind in ICU than the floor, I can say for me personally it has been much better not having to care for 5-6 people anymore. Now whenever I have a patient ready to transfer to the floor, I think to myself "I cant imagine how I ever took care of 5 of these!" So whiny and demanding, lol. It is a nice adjustment to care for people who are too sick to complain. Like, don't even have a call light because they can't use it. But there are other things that can potentially burn you out, the morally distressing situations (never fully realized how miserable "life support" can actually be) and the fact that even when people are on the vent, they are often not fully sedated so you have to deal with the stress of that. However, not to put down med-surg, but I've learned more in my 1.5 yrs as an ICU nurse than I ever learned on the floor. Also getting to focus on only 1-2 patients at a time is awesome, getting to know literally everything about them and "dialing them in" So to speak is something I really love. Even though some shifts are more routine than others, I could never see myself getting bored with ICU and that's what keeps me there. You will do great! Remember that when it comes down to it, nursing is nursing and since you already have experience, even though this is a challenge you will do just fine. You already know how to be a nurse, now you're just learning how to be a nurse in a totally different environment. Best of luck to you!

Just wanted to say thank you so much for all the feedback I received. I think my best bet is to ask to drop down to 24 hrs/week (currently 36) sometime during the pregnancy. I'll have to crunch the numbers and see if it makes more financial sense to get on my husband's health insurance etc. It's so hard feeling torn between maintaining my career and the desire to be a full-time stay at home mom, but I understand that's a struggle most child-bearing women face in this day and age. Luckily nursing is a flexible career and we have grandparents close by... Apparently it can be tricky in the ICU that I work in to drop hours like that, so if that ends up being the case I might have bigger decisions to make. Trying not to count my eggs before they are hatched...

So I'm planning to switch to per diem status once I have a baby, and also am hoping/planning to take off 6 months when the baby is born. I'm not pregnant yet but we are planning to start trying this coming fall. I currently work ICU. Am hoping to stay there, as I just started this past July (transferred from the floor, have been a nurse 6 years), but honestly would be willing to take any per diem job just so I don't have to work more than one day per week with a newborn. My question is: how far into the pregnancy would I request a 6 month leave, and would I wait until right before I come back to ask to switch to per diem or would I tell my boss when I request leave that I want to drop hours when I come back. We are short staffed enough that I don't see why they wouldn't let me go per diem, there are a few other per diems in my unit, however it's all a matter of the per diem position being posted, accepted, and me getting it r/t seniority. I know I'm thinking about this way far in advance since I'm not pregnant yet but just considering my options and thinking about what my life will be like... Anyone else switch to part time / per diem after having a baby? How has it worked for you? TBH I am so tired and burned out on nursing that I would totally just quit and be a stay at home mom...but I spent so much time and money on my education, and it would be hard to let that part of myself go because I guess it does bring some meaning into my life. And it seems like the best of both worlds to be able to work just a few times per month, bring in the nice hospital wages, but still be mostly at home.

Congratulations! I just found out I got the job, and am now definitely feeling like its the right decision for me! I can't wait to start!!!

Thank you to all who posted, I really appreciate the advice! I ended up getting the job and throughout the interview process felt more and more like this is a good decision for me. I absolutely can't wait to get started and am so excited for this!!!

Thank you for the feedback! I have an interview next week so fingers crossed!!!

Thank you! I have an interview next week, fingers crossed!!!

I still would personally go with UP. I remember now I had a coworker who did the accelerated program at OHSU and she wasn't quite as "clinically prepared" as she ought to have been. I think this may have been because it's crammed in even less time (though I think that was when the program was even less than 15 months, so it might be better now). Either way you can't lose, but in the Portland job market, a guaranteed job at a Providence hospital is hard to beat!

Congrats on being sober! I think it's possible for the etoh to show up so you might want to either take pictures of the rash, or notify your sponsor/manager just to be on the safe side. If it was 7 days ago wouldn't you have heard if you had failed by now though?

I say wait for UP - if you get the Prov Scholars program. I went to UP and did the AEM UP program (which I do not recommend for getting a masters), but my undergrad portion of the program (18 months) was awesome! Just the right amount of time, it went by fast but not so fast that I was overwhelmed. The education I got was phenomenal and the clinicals were great - UP is known for having more clinical hours than most nursing programs (not sure about OHSU though). Obviously I would not go there if you don't get the Prov Scholar, as it is ridiculously expensive. But I'm pretty sure you won't regret waiting for UP especially given the job promise and getting 80% paid off!!! Congratulations!

I have been an RN for 5 years, the last four years working Oncology/Med-Surg. I've been going back and forth about making the move to ICU, and just applied for an ICU training program yesterday. I love Oncology, and in a lot of ways feel like that is my calling. However, working at a mid-sized hospital means that our Oncology floor gets a lot of Med-Surg overflow. So while I am an oncology nurse, when it comes down to it I'm really working med-surg. I've thought about applying to the local cancer clinic however I don't want to lose my hospital nursing skills, and frankly can't afford the pay cut until my student loans are paid off in a couple of years. But I love my oncology patients. I have my MSN but don't want to go into administration or quality (too many bad politics where I am). But I want to live up to my potential and learn all that I can to be the most clinically sound, well rounded nurse I can be. While I love my cancer patients and the role I can play in their lives, I am feeling the urge to push myself and be surrounded by others who feel the same - people who actually care or need to know the intricacies of what's going on with their patient. I feel in some ways, working on my current floor is dumbing me down because when it comes down to it, nurses don't have to know the details of people's illnesses in order to do an "adequate" job. Without turning this into a floor vs unit debate, the manager on my floor does not exactly encourage excellence so people get away with a lot of crap that I know simply would not fly in an ICU. Basically I feel like I've reached the limit of my growth where I am currently and I'm getting bored, burned out, and frustrated with those around me who aren't as driven or seem to care as much about knowing the details of their patients. Also, when I asked my manager to help me apply for the ONC exam she had a less than lackluster response (I think she's burned out too) and so I have not applied for my ONC certification. Shouldn't a manager be excited about their staff choosing to get certified? (We have grant money that pays for our testing). Then all of a sudden this ICU job posted and I applied. Obviously I may not get the job, but I guess what I'm asking is, how do you know if/when moving from the floor to ICU is the right thing to do?

Any advice anyone? :/

I have been an RN for 5 years, the last four years working Oncology/Med-Surg. I've been going back and forth about making the move to ICU, and just applied for an ICU training program yesterday. I love Oncology, and in a lot of ways feel like that is my calling. However, working at a mid-sized hospital means that our Oncology floor gets a lot of Med-Surg overflow. So while I am an oncology nurse, when it comes down to it I'm really working med-surg. I've thought about applying to the local cancer clinic however I don't want to lose my hospital nursing skills, and frankly can't afford the pay cut until my student loans are paid off in a couple of years. But I love my oncology patients. I have my MSN but don't want to go into administration or quality (too many bad politics where I am). But I want to live up to my potential and learn all that I can to be the most clinically sound, well rounded nurse I can be. While I love my cancer patients and the role I can play in their lives, I am feeling the urge to push myself and be surrounded by others who feel the same - people who actually care or need to know the intricacies of what's going on with their patient. I feel in some ways floor nursing is dumbing me down because when it comes down to it, you don't have to know the details of people's illnesses in order to do an adequate job. Without turning this into a floor vs unit debate, my manager on my floor does not exactly encourage excellence so people get away with a lot of crap that I know simply would not fly in an ICU. Basically I feel like I've reached the limit of my growth where I am currently and I'm getting bored, burned out, and frustrated with those around me who aren't as driven or seem to care as much about knowing the details of their patients. I feel like an a$$ because I'm getting paid to go to an Oncology conference (Congress) this week and may very well be leaving to ICU when I get back. But, when I asked my manager to help me apply for the ONC exam she had a less than lackluster response (I think she's burned out too) and so I have not applied for my ONC certification. Shouldn't a manager be excited about their staff choosing to get certified? (We have grant money that pays for our testing). Then all of a sudden this ICU job posted and I applied. Obviously I may not get the job, but I guess what I'm asking is, how do you know if/when moving from the floor to ICU is the right thing to do?

So, I have been an RN for two years now and am working on finishing up my MSN degree in the next couple of months. Technically, my program culminates in our ability to sit for the CNL exam (Clinical Nurse Leader). I am working on practicum hours as a CNL student at the moment and have been finding that while I can see how the role can be beneficial, I just don't think it's right for me. I have absolutely zero interest in working as a CNL. In fact, I love my job so much as a staff nurse that I honestly don't see myself leaving it in the next 5 or so years. Since I have been in school since high school, I want to take the next few years of my life to focus on continuing in my career and starting a family. I am not looking for any drastic job changes in the near future. I mostly got roped into the MSN program because I enrolled in an alternate entry MSN program, and thought, well might as well go along and finish it. Also I wanted to be done with school completely prior to having a family. I do hope to go into nursing education some day, with my MSN, but that is several several years down the line as I believe nurses should have many years of experience before advancing to another role. But nothing wrong with having that formal education out of the way. So my question is...do I pay the $350 for the damn CNL test (w/ a $300 renewal fee every 5 years) or do I just forget about it and enjoy my MSN. Note that there are currently absolutely no places that require having a "CNL" certification in my local area, that I am never planning on leaving the area, nor am I planning on ever commuting to somewhere else for a CNL job. It seems as though everyone else in my program has decided to take the exam even if they don't think they will get a CNL job, because they figure they've come this far and might as well take it. I see it more as an unnecessary expense plus I don't even want anyone at my place of employment to know I'm a "CNL" because no one where I live even knows what that means. Please advise. Thanks. :)