Wants to change specialties

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Hey Nurse Beth,

I'm new to the forum so please forgive me if I didn't present correctly but I need some insight. I am an experienced nurse. I've been doing peds CTICU for five years now and I have seemed to have plateaued. I want to change specialties. I have been offered a positions in the CCU, CTICU, and SICU. I'm having a hard time deciding. I want to go back for an advanced degree eventually so I want to chose the unit that would be most beneficial to me. As an experienced nurse, which would you choose? Thanks in advance for answering.

Dear Plateaued,

Thanks for writing in ?

Five years is right around the time a lot of us start to look around for a new challenge.

Pediatric cardiothoracic intensive care unit (CTICU), Cardiac care unit (CCU) and Surgical ICUs (SICU) are all intensive care units but different patient populations and conditions. They each have their own workflow and level of intensity.

It seems to me that you are already in the most specialized of the three, CTICU. SICU would be non-cardiothoracic surgeries, and CCU (which could be cardiac care or just critical care) would be non-surgical patients.

So I'm wondering if you are consciously limiting your options to intensive care? Are you going from peds to adults, or are your job offers from pediatric CCU/SICU?

When you say you are going for an advanced degree, if by any chance you mean CRNA, I don't believe your chances of being accepted will be directly affected by whether you are in SICU or CTICU, or CCU.

If these units are all in your facility, can you arrange to float to the other units? Get a sense of where you see yourself fitting in. You really have all good options open to you, and so much to learn.

Best wishes in your decision,

Nurse Beth

[Cindy Ann McAllister]

When I was exploring options, I spoke directly to each manager and asked to shadow a nurse for a shift on each unit.
There were no issues, as each one was very receptive and accommodating. The experiences were enlightening and I was able to choose easily.