Icu Vs Floor Nursing

At first glance the two types of treatment can seem interchangeable.

Icu vs floor nursing.

While the icu may only have a few patients and often only one real icu level patient they are also usually the resource nurses for the floor and often only have themselves and another nurse on the floor with no in house provider. I was wonderig if i should start my nursing career as a med surg nurse or in the icu. It usually isn t a case of calling a doctor so much as walking up to one and asking for an order. Icu nursing can be as hectic as floor nursing but in a different way.

It s true that any licensed nursing professional can assist during an emergency situation but icu sometimes called critical care nurses and floors are utilized because they offer the highest level of complexity of care. While there are a few similarities between the two there are a lot more differences. I just recently took my nclex rn exam i want to work in the icu but i worked as a nurses aide during school and while wait for the results of my exam. Long term goals definitely involve critical care advanced practice so icu is the natural choice for those reasons but some well trusted older rn pals of mine have suggested it s best to gain a year or more of floor experience first to learn the fundamentals time management etc.

You may be too unstable to be treated on a regular nursing floor or icu level monitoring may be the protocol for a particular procedure. Floor nurses feel they have the toughest because they have more patients less monitors more visitors etc. We also have 2 sister. The unit nurses float to all of the floors of the hospital and we are expected to take a fair share of our load.

Differences between icu and er nursing. Joshua21 stated that if you put an icu nurse on the floor they would be like a duck out of water and vice versa. Any advie will be greatly appreciated. Icu nurses feel they have the toughest job because the patient acuity is higher.

Both icu intensive care unit nurses and er ed emergency room emergency department nurses work very fast paced jobs that require them to think quickly and experience patients that have very serious diagnosis. At a small hospital though you deal with far more limited resources. Many floor nurses understand the intensity and stress of a code but that doesn t match the constant stress of the icu. This unit is managed by physicians that have a background in surgery.

I d love to hear from some of the nurses that have done both. I much prefer the icu craziness over a floor. Dec 06 2001 icu nursing vs floor nursing. My longterm goal is to become a nurse practioner specializing in critical care.

Every now and then i have a shift where my patients are stable and relatively easy but those are few and far between in my unit. Well at my hospital that is exactly what we do.