What area of nursing should I get exp in if I want to eventually work in ICU nursing?

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Hi! I am a senior nursing student in Canada who needs to submit my preferences for my final preceptorship term. I am hoping to work as an ICU nurse in the future but I am unsure what type of ward would provide me with a good basis. I was thinking about cardiac medicine or surgery? What are some other high acuity type wards?

I will also be doing my high acuity/critical care specialty heory courses before my preceptorship begins.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

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I'd say cardiac but why not just jump in? Straight to the ICU???

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jamst149, here they don't usually hire new graduates onto high acuity ward until you have at least 1-2 years of experience minimum on a typical med/surg ward. Its just too overwhelming for new graduates I guess

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Med/Surg. Get experience with a bit of everything case and diagnosis wise while you get comfortable prioritizing your care and adapting to what gets thrown at you.

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Med/surge for 1-2 yrs.

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Specializes in Cardiothoracic ICU.

Cardiac step down/PCU (anything but a neuro PCU) will look best on a resume IMO. Cardiac step down is going to get you experience with many of the gtts you'll encounter in the ICU...in PCU (depending on your facility), you may get exposure to vents and a variety of gtts as well!

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RachelP_CRNA2B, thanks for your reply! What does gtts stand for?

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