Want to try another nurse specialty

[Nurse_Jasmine]

Hello,

I'm a 24 year old nurse who went straight into surgical ICU after nursing school. I've been there for almost 18 months and everyone I work with tells me how good I am at the job. Problem is, I'm miserable. I dread going to work mainly because I'm afraid. I feel like my job puts me in very dangerous situations at times (ie. I am already charging at times, I have already started taking open heart surgery patients) and I don't feel like I have been properly trained for alot of the responsibilities I've been thrown into, many times with no warning. This is mainly because turnover ain my unit is high and some nights I have more seniority in the unit than many people I work with already with the exception of about 2-3 people. I want out and would like to give another specialty a try. I'm interested in the public health sector but I'm open to most anything besides floor nursing. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get through this and any nursing specialties I could try that would fit a young ambitious hard working nurse who wants a less stressful job that I could learn and help people at?

[oceanblue52]

Can you stick it out another 6 months? A solid 2 years in critical care with Charge RN responsibilities should give you a good foundation on which to market yourself. Are there things you enjoy about your job? What attracts you to Public Health? Every specialty has its stressors; self-assessment can help you avoid getting into another poor workplace environment. What about something like the OR/pre-op? Home health? Is there a specific population you enjoy?

[CCU BSN RN]

No new grad likes their job or feels safe for at least a couple of years, and the higher acuity patients you start out with, the longer it will take to feel competent.

It took me several years on telemetry/stepdown to feel like I kind of knew what I was doing, and about 4-5 years to feel so competent I was bored and praying for codes to break up the monotony.

I also found myself the most senior nurse with a mere 1.5 years of experience, and can't imagine what that's like in ICU. I might tell your manager that being in charge is making you feel so unsafe you're considering leaving your job, and that you'd like a break from the charge role. It's tough to be everyone's resource when you don't even feel competent yourself. Managers won't like to take you off the charge role, but if you let them know that you're considering leaving (and their turnover is already high), then that should be a good incentive for them to try to retain you. You might feel more comfortable with the safety net of someone else being in charge.

I agree that you should stick it out, especially if you are getting feedback from your peers and management that you're doing a great job. A little bit of fear in ICU is good. It is scary. Things change on a dime, often for no apparent reason. You're not supposed to feel competent or good at your job yet. Starting from scratch will bring its own set of challenges, and you may find them more unpleasant. Your current job is 'the devil you know', so to speak.

Also are you on night shift? Have you considered trying to go to day shift? ICUs typically have a lot of seasoned nurses on day shift, and I have found that I'm much better at my job in CCU when I know there are a few 20=40 year veterans in case things hit the proverbial fan and I need help troubleshooting something.