CTICU-RN

Tampa General or All Children's:)

Tampa General is the number one hospital in Florida according to us Newsweek. They are a level one trauma center and magnet as well:) If I lived closer to there, that is where I would want to be. Also All Children's is in St Pete. I did work there for almost two years. The only reason I left was bc the drive got to be too much due to where I live. It is a really great hospital as well:)

Not sure how it is now or for LPN's. I was on a wait list for about a year for the ASN program. The LPN bridge merges in with 3rd or 4th semester students and I don't know how that particular wait list works....

I know this is an "old ish" thread but wanted to reply bc I attended the nursing program at STLCC (Forest Park). The program load gets heavier each semester. First semester isn't bad at all, you have class 2 days a week then clinical one day with no prep. It gets to be more and more and you move forward. I was able to work ft all the way up to 3rd semester. It was difficult and virtually everyday on my schedule was filled with something but I did it:) any specific ?s you have about it?

I worked weekend nights or or as it was called "Weekend Option" for 2 years. I was paid my base pay + time and a half + weekend diff + night diff. It's really good money but you get get used to making that, so when you come off of it, your paycheck sucks!!! Currently dealing with that right now....my paycheck are $700 less now than they were working weekends, but I guess that's the price you pay to try and regain a little bit of social life again.

I'm kinda in the same boat....new job, same area though and HATE the hospital:(( I have no advice, we can cry together!! Mehhhh!!!

Long story but to make things short, i have been a CTICU nurse for 2 years and worked at the same hospital in the same unit for almost 10 years. Things (life in general) were getting too "routine" for me and I wanted a change so, I decided to make a drastic change and completely relocated to another state. I accepted a position in a CVICU at a small local hospital in the area and have been there for about 3 months now. I HATE everything about the hospital that I literally cry everyday I have to go to work, I hate it THAT much!! Now I love life in my new state but absolutely can't stand my job. My job is very important to me and I have NEVER in my life hated my job or dreaded going to work like I do now. For starters, I used to work in a very large hospital and had everything I ever needed at my fingertips. The unit was very challenging, which I loved and is a lot of the reason I enjoy being a critical care nurse to begin with. Also I am still a new enough nurse that I feel like I NEED that challenge. The hospital I am in now is.....very different - to say the least. From the hospital as a whole to the unit itself, it is just complete and utter chaos. And the ICU pts are basically floor pts to me. I feel like I am paying $40,000 in student loans I acquired to become a nurse to sit and stare at walls, it's that bad!! The pay is good and it's easy but not for me. The area that I relocated to offers very limited job opportunities for a nurse if you want the high end, fast paced, challenging sick pts. The closest big hospital similar to my previous one is 2 hours away, and I've seriously been thinking about just moving back "home". When you work a 12 hour night and drive 2 hours to work and 2 hours home, it just sounds ridiculous to me, BUT in my career as a nurse, I believe I would be much happier at the larger hospital. I have no family here but a very good day care here for my children. My fiancé absolutely loves it here all around and the thought of going back home is not even an option in his mind. Do I just give up and go back "home" (without my fiancé) or do I suck it up, apply to the larger hospital and take the drive to be happy in my career?? I am at a complete and utter loss but also completely miserable where I am. At the end of the day a paycheck isn't worth compromising your happiness!! Any thoughts?? Please and thank you!!

Long story but to make things short, i have been a CTICU nurse for 2 years and worked at the same hospital in the same unit for almost 10 years. Things (life in general) were getting too "routine" for me and I wanted a change so, I decided to make a drastic change and completely relocated to another state. I accepted a position in a CVICU at a small local hospital in the area and have been there for about 3 months now. I HATE everything about the hospital that I literally cry everyday I have to go to work, I hate it THAT much!! Now I love life in my new state but absolutely can't stand my job. My job is very important to me and I have NEVER in my life hated my job or dreaded going to work like I do now. For starters, I used to work in a very large hospital and had everything I ever needed at my fingertips. The unit was very challenging, which I loved and is a lot of the reason I enjoy being a critical care nurse to begin with. Also I am still a new enough nurse that I feel like I NEED that challenge. The hospital I am in now is.....very different - to say the least. From the hospital as a whole to the unit itself, it is just complete and utter chaos. And the ICU pts are basically floor pts to me. I feel like I am paying $40,000 in student loans I acquired to become a nurse to sit and stare at walls, it's that bad!! The pay is good and it's easy but not for me. The area that I relocated to offers very limited job opportunities for a nurse if you want the high end, fast paced, challenging sick pts. The closest big hospital similar to my previous one is 2 hours away, and I've seriously been thinking about just moving back "home". When you work a 12 hour night and drive 2 hours to work and 2 hours home, it just sounds ridiculous to me, BUT in my career as a nurse, I believe I would be much happier at the larger hospital. I have no family here but a very good day care here for my children. My fiancé absolutely loves it here all around and the thought of going back home is not even an option in his mind. Do I just give up and go back "home" (without my fiancé) or do I suck it up, apply to the larger hospital and take the drive to be happy in my career?? I am at a complete and utter loss but also completely miserable where I am. At the end of the day a paycheck isn't worth compromising your happiness!! Any thoughts?? Please and thank you!!

In response to the above......The hospital just stated doing open heart surgery yet has no standards or policies in place for numerous things! The unit itself has no standards of practice and on day one when I asked if they had any was told they are just all doing what they are used to doing at their old hospitals....*** is that??! In general, the way they do things is so ass backwards it's beyond rediculous!! From pulling all of a patients central lines within 8 hours post op and putting in 1 PIV then sticking them for blood constantly to fast track extubating them, immediately advancing their diets and making them sick!! Meditech charting...and not even the upgraded point click version, the old black computer screen with green letter type meditech. It's not bad on charting an assessment bc it takes all of 5 seconds but the rest of it makes me want to scream!! They just went to CPOE yet still are double charting everything bc they have paper flow sheets for everything as well!! Now let me mind you, I come from a very large well known hospital so I expected this to be different but different isn't even the word to describe it!! And I also knew this was a "new program" for the hospital but It's not easy peasy once you start opening peoples chest and mucking with their heart!! It's so disorganized and chaotic. No one is on the same page and it's just making me want to rip my hair out!! Not just this unit I am in but everywhere else too!! I assisted in a code that could have been prevented that was a complete and utter disaster!! Let me ask you this, If your pts hr was 22 and their arterial line reading was 40s/20s progressing to a flat line pretty quickly, would you stand there and shake your head and wait to see if a NBP would pick up or check a damn pulse and start compressions?? There's just a lot that really ****** me off about it, all of it and the thing is this....they treat their patients likes queens and kings, as they should, so the people that so go to that hospital think so highly of it bc they have had a good experience but to be on the inside and see how STUPIDLY run things really are just erks me to no end!! It's really not a safe place to be and it's not somewhere I would ever be proud to say I work(ed)!

I just relocated from Missouri to Florida. Took a job at a small local hospital in the area and am going absolutely bonkers!!! I can NOT stand to be there another day! The way they do things is just so wrong on many levels. I came from a very large hospital and that is what I am used to but in seeking new opportunities, stepped up to the challenge to try something new. Needless to say, I am now in a world full of regret!! I have NEVER EVER in my life hated my job as much as do there. I am sad to say I would rather quit my job and be a bartender than work another day there under the current circumstances. It really hurts me to say that bc I love being a nurse but it's true:( I am not one to slander another, so I won't mention the name of the hospital specifically nor the area (bc that's almost a dead giveaway as well) but I will give a few choice names of hospitals I am very interested in working for.....and have thoroughly researched this time around (lol)...... Tampa General would be my ultimate choice but I just can't do that commute everyday, it would kill me! So, sadly I have to eliminate that option.... But....Sarasota Memorial.....that is much closer, it's a larger hospital, a teaching hospital, magnet, award winning beacon ICU, and from what I found has a very good cardiac program:))) Anyone have any leads or contact persons for their CVICU??? I have been in CVICU for 9 years, have tons of experience with that patient population and that's where my heart is. I have searched their career page virtually everyday looking for an open position there and have yet to find one in that specific unit. I LOVE Florida but my job is a very important part of my life and not liking where I am currently really has me contemplating moving back to Missouri. Any advice or help to offer?? Please:)))

I'm sorry but flu shots are mandatory now

I work in a hospital where we implant at least 2-3 lvads a day, so needless to say, we have ALOT of them....just a regular blood pressure cuff is fine....sometimes you will get a blood pressure with a systolic and diastolic but sometimes you will not and only get a Mean....i don't thinks its possible to use a Doppler to check a bp on these pts (honestly I've never tried either) bc their pump is a continuous flow regardless and depending in which pump they have there may or may not be pulsatility...

So Mr Black, explain to me where it is you think you are at and what kind of things you are seeing?? Have you taken your haldol yet today??

I understand you have been seeing things that aren't real......How does that make you feel??

Am I dreaming or was there something in the turkey I ate before coming to work tonight??