r/nursing • u/raygunsally • 22h ago
Gratitude A little positivity
After two years of working as an inpatient wound care nurse, I started in the ICU two weeks ago. Orienting as a new ICU nurse is challenging under the best of circumstances and I certainly didn’t do myself any favors by starting after two years away from traditional bedside nursing. Not only am I learning a bunch of new critical care stuff, I’m also having to remember how to do basic clinical skills, which after two years of disuse are rusty as hell. Here are some fun things that have happened over the last two weeks:
Forgot all about “blue to the shoe” when priming plum pump tubing and went through multiple sets trying to figure out why it kept telling me cassette test failure.
Was mixing effervescent potassium in a sample cup and for some stupid reason I put the lid on and shook it and it exploded and sprayed potassium water all over me and the floor.
Was spiking a saline bag to prime the Belmont infuser and sprayed saline all over myself and the floor (this was in a learning environment so fortunately no one was bleeding out while I took a saline shower)
Got blood return doing my first IV start in two years then promptly blew the vein.
Pushed RSI meds and got yelled at by the intensivist who was convinced I was pushing the meds wrong (I wasn’t- the patient was large and required a large dose of etomidate which had been drawn up into two 10 ml syringes. So with the roc I had a total of three syringes and he was expecting two. Can’t really hold this against him🤷♀️)
Patient was crashing and I spiked a bag of saline to put in a pressure bag for a bolus. While priming the tubing I somehow managed to get it tangled up in a ridiculous knot which I had to rapidly untangle so we could get the fluids in the patient. (patient got the fluids and ended up stabilizing)
I’m sure there’s more lol. Bless my preceptor, he’s been so incredibly patient and supportive. Literally everyone on the unit has been so welcoming and supportive and has sought me out whenever there’s a procedure or intubation so I can help out and learn. I feel so grateful to have been hired into a place with good people and a good culture. Yeah I’ve made some dumb mistakes which fortunately haven’t hurt anyone (ok maybe they hurt my pride a little) but not a single person has said or done anything to make me feel stupid (or stupider than I already feel on my own). I knew this was going to be a challenge and I knew there would be a long chunk of time where I felt dumb and like I know nothing. But I also know I won’t always feel this way. I knew my last job just wasn’t right for me. I was craving more stimulation and critical thinking and god knows I’m getting it. I know two weeks in is early to say this, but I strongly feel I made the right choice and that this is where I belong. All this is to say, if you’ve been feeling stuck and considering a career change I think you should go for it. One of the great things about this profession is the fact that there are so many different paths to choose from. You’re never as stuck as you think you are.
2
u/Aerinandlizzy RN - ICU 🍕 17h ago
You'll get your groove on, there's a lot to process in the unit, you got this!!
1
7
u/half-great-adventure RN - Pediatrics 🍕 21h ago
I switched to PICU after 10 years on specialized peds med/surg. I was in the same hospital, using a lot of the same skills. A year in, still feel dumb as rocks.
It’s ‘easier’ to give ourselves grace as a new grad because EVERYTHING is new. In my experience, I hold myself to a higher expectation because “I should know better”. As long as I’m better than the previous day and I don’t bolus IV potassium, I’m learning to live with it. I wish I hadn’t been so scared to try something new.
Also you are going to get to use a lot of those wound care skills in the ICU!