Most intense ICU you've travel to?

CFrancine, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2017

Just in my few years of work experience, I have noticed the bigger the hospital, the more services they offer and more resources. So they are more likely to have extremely sick patients. So my guess would be try to stick with large facilities. I currently work at the hub of a large hospital system in my area (not in the icu but I see the patients). They take the sickest of the sick from within the system as well as people travel far and wide to come here. When I worked in two smaller facility's ICU, most of those patients would be in step down or even medsurg at the big hospital.

Wolf at the Door, BSN · Apr 10, 2017

you won't get sick patients at those facilities.

NedRN · Apr 10, 2017

Teaching or public hospitals are your best bet. That said, you will get sick, but possibly not the sickest patients as those may be reserved for staff for teaching.

livingkennedy · Apr 11, 2017

I have experienced a bit of both. After years of experience even the sickest don't bring as much joy or intensity. I do like those patients more, but often I feel like what those hospitals do to some of those people is just not even humane and a huge drain on the system. In that aspect it is almost depressing. It's like taking a 19 year old dog that would normally die or be put to sleep and prevent that from happening. Hook it up to feeding tube, breathing machine, CVVHD, LVAD, blah blah blah just to supplement each organ. Yea it's cool that you're operating all that and it can be intense and a great learning experience, but at the end of the day you're essentially paid to be torturing some person's body. I'm not trying to sound dark, but the reality often is dark. So what you gain in learning/intense environment, you might lose in your own sense of humanity. That's my experience at teaching facilities.