criticalRN10

Well, thank god for that...because of all the baby nurses now, you will have some experienced ones taking care of you when you get in that bed!!!

^....exactly what I was thinking.

Yeah, that was the original plan but I got granted an interview so I'm going to go and see what happens. It's actually my third, the first was a transfer for a different specialty and the second was due to relocation (and a level 1 trauma center vs small community hospital). I loved my first place of employment and would go back gladly if it wasn't so far away. I want to find a place that's a good fit with a healthy (and safe) work environment...both of which I don't feel at my current place of employment. I also know that I have no future in emergency nursing and ICU is where I need to be. Where ever I go next is where I plan to stay.

Hey everyone, I wanted to throw this out there and see if anyone can give me some tips and/or advice. I started my nursing career in a MSICU at a small hospital and worked there for 10 months before transferring to ED for census reasons mostly and just to get a change of pace. I was in that ED for 7 months then moved to another city and now I'm @ a level 1 trauma center ED for 7 months but I have decided that I want to go back to an ICU setting and continue learning all that I can about critical patients and how to care for them. I have an interview for a CVICU tomorrow with a great hospital that I've heard awesome things about and I really want the job. I'm worried about what to expect in this interview, if they're going to ask me clinical questions and heart stuff (which I have never worked with fresh hearts b/c my ICU started them just after I left the unit.) What do you think I should brush up on and what kind of questions do you suggest asking? Thanks in advance

I'm hoping that they don't make me do a full on internship since I do have 10 months of ICU experience already... but I will definitely soak up all of the experience I can there for sure. The problem is...when my team leader called the lady I'm interviewing with to try to get me in, he said "she wants to do CRNA and all that so she wants to come to ICU..." so she already knows :-/ lol at least I still got an interview though!! he told her I'm a really strong nurse and he hates to lose me but I would be great up there so hopefully he can help me get in.

Well it turns out that was the best thing I could do was call! She said I definitely should go to ICU because they very rarely accept ER experience. Thanks for your input everyone!

That's a great idea!! I actually got a call today from my HR rep and scheduled an interview with ICU in May...I'm so torn though I've heard horrible things about working at this particular ICU (especially coming from ER..they don't like us lol) but it would be an awesome place for experience. I'm happy where I'm working now (most days) and like most of the people I work with. I would hate to switch and be miserable in ICU just for the experience I don't even need to get into school. I sent my manager an email with a heads up in case the ICU manager contacts him b/c I don't want to burn any bridges...I'll probably just transfer to ICU just to be "safe" with the application process and continue to work PRN in the ER if he'll let me. I think I'll contact the school like you said and see what they say. I'm mad at myself for not taking GRE and CCRN sooner though because if I had it right now I would be able to apply for the January 2014 CRNA school which the deadline is July 1st. Even if I don't get in, worth a shot since they only take apps yearly.

So I started out in an ICU at a smaller hospital. Finished my GN internship and worked there for about 10 months. I had an opportunity to transfer to the ER and took it because I had so much fun in the ER in school and thought I would love working there...I went back and forth on doing CRNA school (which was my original plan and the reason I went into ICU to begin with) mainly because I didn't know if I wanted to put my life on pause again for school after I had just busted my butt in nursing school for years! Well, I stayed in that small ER for about 6 months and I transferred to a level 1 trauma county hospital and I've been in the ER here now for another 6 months. My problem is now I'm really thinking I made a mistake and I should have stuck to ICU and gotten that experience because I could have been applying and/or starting CRNA school by now. Now that I'm positive that CRNA is what I'm going to do, I'm not sure what my next step should be. I hate to just hop jobs so frequently and I would like to find a unit and stay in it for a while but I feel like being in the ER just isn't going to get me the experience I need to do anything for the future. I know that TCU accepts ER experience from what I hear...but I'm not entirely convinced that I would be successful in the program since I haven't worked with vasoactive gtts or vents etc. in a year. I contacted one of our ICU team leaders who directed me to HR and reminded me that there's new grads wanting the positions too (which I'm not taking as a good sign) and I can also apply for a level 2 hospital ICU that is nearby. I just feel like I need a solid year of experience in ANY unit (but especially good at a level 1 trauma ER) before I make any more career moves!! Can anyone give me any advice? What would you do?

So I started out in an ICU at a smaller hospital. Finished my GN internship and worked there for about 10 months. I had an opportunity to transfer to the ER and took it because I had so much fun in the ER in school and thought I would love working there...I went back and forth on doing CRNA school (which was my original plan and the reason I went into ICU to begin with) mainly because I didn't know if I wanted to put my life on pause again for school after I had just busted my butt in nursing school for years! Well, I stayed in that small ER for about 6 months and I transferred to a level 1 trauma county hospital and I've been in the ER here now for another 6 months. My problem is now I'm really thinking I made a mistake and I should have stuck to ICU and gotten that experience because I could have been applying and/or starting CRNA school by now. Now that I'm positive that CRNA is what I'm going to do, I'm not sure what my next step should be. I hate to just hop jobs so frequently and I would like to find a unit and stay in it for a while but I feel like being in the ER just isn't going to get me the experience I need to do anything for the future. I know that TCU accepts ER experience from what I hear...but I'm not entirely convinced that I would be successful in the program since I haven't worked with vasoactive gtts or vents etc. in a year. I contacted one of our ICU team leaders who directed me to HR and reminded me that there's new grads wanting the positions too (which I'm not taking as a good sign) and I can also apply for a level 2 hospital ICU that is nearby. I just feel like I need a solid year of experience in ANY unit (but especially good at a level 1 trauma ER) before I make any more career moves!! Can anyone give me any advice? What would you do?

it happens to everyone. there will be days where you need an empty bed as well and you're rushing your patients out the door to another nurse :) comes with the territory! have a drink and a bubble bath and do it all again tomorrow!

Is it at the same hospital? Would they have the ability to know if you worked or not? you could make them think you look that fresh 24/7 even after a long night of working :) wear the scrubs who cares? that's what they're going to be paying you to wear after all.

the tiniest bit of pressure against a non-pressurized system is going to make fluid move the other way..hence the reason when you give IV push meds you don't have to push very hard...

Did you stop it? If abx go into an artery they are going to go into the hand muscles and most likely do some damage. You would have to have a pressure bag with a lot of pressure in order to prevent blood from filling the bag immediately if you actually hit an artery... how far up the tubing did it go? weird.

New grad here graduated in May working in ICU. My best advice is just try your best not to be nervous and remind yourself that everyone starts somewhere! I would never be nervous going to work and that left me able to ask questions and not worry if they were stupid or not. It's just a matter of fact thing- you are NEW and you need guidance. People will understand that and if they don't then talk to whatever resources you have to fix the situation- you deserve a good internship/orientation. Good luck!!

everything will be new. Even if you've seen it before, even common sense things you'll mess up b/c you're uncomfortable. It's just the nature of the beast. That's how you learn though! There's no sense in worrying about how to figure out how to be a nurse, everyone else has been there and you can and will figure it out too.