Filly

If didn't work ICU, my "next best" choice would definitely be ER. I love ER and pick up overtime shifts there a few times a month. You still get the challenge of a super sick case or code, with more turnover. That is, unless you're assigned the pelvic exam rooms and get all the std checks and vag bleeds for the whole shift.

I'm 1.5 years in and I can now say I feel much more confident and am really excited when I get my assignment and hear it's a 1:1 train wreck. I think I'm still appropriately cautious and will always be a question-asker, but I can really see a lot of growth in my skills and critical thinking. Finally. It was a really tough first year.

I started in ICU as a new grad. If I had the opportunity to start anywhere else, I think tele would have been the most useful.

I work nights in a 30 bed unit and we eat where we can see the nurses station and rooms (like the dictation area), so we can watch our monitors and go do whatever is needed for our patients. My food gets cold a lot, but it's a lot easier this way. Our charge does not take patients so he/she is usually available if we do have to leave the unit for some reason, but we very rarely report off for breaks. Our breakroom is fairly far away from the ICU, and I personally am not comfortable taking breaks there.