Transferring fron Med-Surg/Tele to ICU advice please

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2016

Moved to our Critical Care Nursing forum for more replies.

Okami_CCRN, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2016

Congratulations on your new position and what will hopefully be a positive move in your career. Your transition to ICU nursing will undoubtedly be stressful, but remember no one ever just dropped into a new specialty and knew everything. ICU nurses notoriously love to teach, make sure you keep your eyes and ears trained to absorb this new knowledge.

Having been a medical-surgical nurse for some time will prove beneficial, but remember this is a new patient population and you will need to expand your knowledge and skill-set. I'm sure you will fit in fine, just be courteous, curious, kind, and willing to learn. If something interesting is going on with another patient ask your preceptor if you can observe. Try to shadow in other departments that work closely with ICU such as interventional radiology and cardiac cath lab.

Best of Luck!

tele queen · Jul 18, 2016

Thank you for the input!

weirdscience · Jul 18, 2016

Your tele experience will be an asset to you. The biggest transition I experienced (and have witnessed other med/surg to critical care RN's undergo) is the shift of priorities from a task orientation to an acuity and systems orientation. You really have to set aside that task-y mindset and think through what is the most pressing need your patient(s) have, plus why you are doing what you're doing, what could go wrong, and what you plan to do if it does go wrong.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Jul 28, 2016

ICU nurses CAN be a tough crowd. However, you are now one of them. They will critique you initially, but you will be welcomed to the hood.

You will get respected much quicker.. if you never let them see you sweat.

Let us know how it's going.

gonzo1, ASN, RN · Jul 30, 2016

They will most likely welcome your med/surg/tele experience. Almost all the ICU nurses I know started out in med/surg or sometimes ER. You will be able to teach them some things and vice versa.

1. Answer call lights fast.

2. Always be looking at something educational in your down time, not candy crush (until orientation is done) LOL

3. Be curious, ask questions and ask to see things. When there is a vent patient ask to go in and look at vent etc. Don't just sit and play on phone (true story) Probably not going to make it through orientation.

4. Talk to the other disciplines and learn as much as you can.

5. Offer to help when appropriate. There's no techs in ICU so we have to rely on each other a lot.

Kssrn404 · Jul 31, 2016

I just started back to nursing after a long break raising my three kids. I am returning to the cardiac recovery unit. Often I will float to ICU. Don't be afraid to ask questions and keep a note pad handy to write down points to remember and study on your days off. I love the advice from the previous posts as ICU nurses do enjoy sharing their tips and are generally very helpful as long as they see you want to learn and are willing to work hard and help them out when you can. RT's are a valuable resource when learning the vent. A good one will always back you up. Get a few good books to study aside of your preceptor program. The AACN Essentials of Critical Care Nursing 3rd edition would be a good place to start. Worth every penny! Best of luck to you!!!!