Topics About 'Icu'.

Hi Nurse Beth, I've worked in healthcare for over five years now, one year as a registered nurse. During nursing school, I completed a clinical rotation in the Neurosciences ICU of a top-area hospital, and I loved it! I was offered a job, but I could...

Dear Nurse Beth: Is ICU for me? I accepted a position at a small specialized surgical ICU at a teaching hospital. Unfortunately, I HATE it. Most of these patients are on the unit several months to a year and should transfer to the floor, but the p...

Over the past year I have been working in a Trauma 1 center. My background is Trauma ICU, paramedics and have several certifications. When I interviewed for the job I made it clear I wanted to advance my career in Trauma. I had already been part of a...

Is working in the ICU all it's cracked up to be? Part of me has always wanted to work there--I won't really feel like I've "made it" as a nurse until I can take care of the sickest patients. I'm thinking about making the switch to my hospital's MICU....

I was a home health nurse for 1 year. I have been a LTACH nurse for 1 year. My LTACH has a ratio 1-5. At my LTACH, there are tons of tasks per 5 patients like wound care, mobility x2( out of bed), q2hour turns, record breakfast,lunch Dinner,...

Whether you're a new nurse looking to land your first job out of nursing school, a seasoned nurse making the transition to the ICU, or moving to a new ICU environment, the following list of questions can help you prepare! From knowing what to expect ...

Hospitalized patients often experience pain. In the ICU, most patient experience pain to some degree. As more invasive and painful procedures are performed, pain escalates. Add in intubation, multiple lines and your patient experience a wide variety ...

I work in a cardiac intensive care unit; CCU and SICU together. As an ICU nurse, I'm well acquainted with the correlation between untreated sleep apnea and heart disease, stroke or sudden death. And I wish I had a dollar for every patient with "obstr...

"Very cool," I thought to myself. "Someone with American Indian bloodline." Mrs. B. was intubated because of a stroke. She was one of two patients who was assigned to me for the weekend in our ICU. The unit was full and, not surprisingly, it was busy...

What is a Step-Down Unit (SDU)? SDUs fill a gap between ICU and the MedSurg/Tele units by providing a: lower level of care than resource-intensive ICUs and a higher level of care than MedSurge/Tele units SDUs provide care to stab...

When John showed up in the unit, he was non-communicative and usually in 4-way restraints as he would usually be doing a motion, we had coined as the crab. He would be on his back, moving each of his four extremities independently of each other, the ...

One of my old buddies from high school just got her LVN and told me she got hired by some travel agency to work at nursing homes & other psych places. The interesting part is that she is nearly making 3x as much as me as a new graduate LVN......a...

So I am working back in psych where I have a state pension (not 401k, 403b, etc), but I just left neuro ICU where I worked for 3 years. So my question to all of you is how long can a nurse be out of the ICU and working in psych before the nurse is s...

Do graduate schools accept experience from PCU?

Hey, guys! I have an interview coming up next week for an ICU. I’ve got over 10 years experience in critical care, but I’ve been away from it for 7 years now due to I went to drug rehab and I live in a big city where the job market is very competitiv...

Hi Nurse Beth, I am a nurse of 7 years currently working in informatics and outpatient GI. Most of my RN experience is in outpatient. I was a new grad on an acute care unit, but I failed out of the new grad program (3 month program), so I moved ...

I know on one hand , I could save the most money per diem for CRNA school vs I’m missing out the time to gain ICU experience . Appreciate any input ? Hello ?? everyone !! Here’s my stats.. RN 9+ years ms/tele/pcu. Debating to continue per diem vs. I...

You get a report on your two patients (rushing through the assessment as quickly as possible) and just as you go into the empty room assigned to your third patient, the phone rings and it's for you. You put the phone down after the report and look up...

Hello, I recently graduated and my goal at the moment is to land a job in the ICU. I have two job offers both from a nurse residency program. One being surgical PCU or Med-Surg. But if I accept the surgical PCU position I have a 2-year commitment and...

It's January, and the December graduates from nursing school will be taking their NCLEX exams, looking for jobs and starting those jobs (if they're lucky enough to get them!) in the next few months. That means that the ICU is going to have another hu...

It is a fact that many people will either personally experience a critical illness or be impacted by a critical illness by a friend or family member (Gavaghan & Carroll, 2002). The concept of family-centered care and open visiting hours in the in...

Just curious what other regions/ hospital systems are experiencing.... I am an ICU nurse at a Midwestern hospital (community size roughly 250k) and we are the main hospital system in the city - we have 3 ICUs... Med/surf, cardiac and neuro/trauma. ...

#1 Adapt and Overcome Remind yourself that you are capable of handling whatever your shift throws at you. You can always adapt and overcome. A positive attitude goes a long way in your next twelve hours. #2 Find A Routine That Works For You ...

I'm curious. Most of the people I went to school with want to be ICU or ER nurses. They've never worked in the ICU or the ER but that's all they want to do. I told one girl who refused to work anywhere else other than ICU to go into a nursing home if...

I just started on a ICU floor and am super overwhelmed with information especially regarding vents. Almost every patient on the floor is on one so I know it is super important to understand them. Can someone explain to me how the Pressure Suppor...