Comments on: Lessons From the ICU http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm The Ups and Downs of My First Year in the ICU Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:06:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Sean http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-22080 Sean Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:06:00 +0000 http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-22080 Hmmmm...do you come in a pocket size? So I could take you with me to work every day? You make a LOT of sense! I can't wait to look back and laugh at how nervous I was when I started in the ICU :) Hmmmm…do you come in a pocket size? So I could take you with me to work every day? You make a LOT of sense!

I can’t wait to look back and laugh at how nervous I was when I started in the ICU :)

]]> By: mo http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-22070 mo Sat, 19 Apr 2008 05:21:10 +0000 http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-22070 Whoever told you that quote was full of bs. I do not empty the catheter bag with wild eyed dramatic intent, maybe some precision though. I have been in the ICU for what feels like a hundred years and honestly all that intense feeling about what you are doing goes away or you go nuts. Eventually you just get really,really good at your job just like every other job anyone does over time. I really wish that we could stop making the ICU sound so damn scary all the time. It freaks people out and when you are freaked out you have a hard time thinking logically. I have always called ICU nursing recipe medicine. Once you figure out your patients particular recipe for survival it's all just a series of tasks to keep them cooking. It doesn't have to be scary and preceptors who get all drama queen and make the student terrified of making a mistake make me nuts. ICU nursing is all about taking action according to your recipe with independence, If you are anxious all the time about making a mistake you will never develop the self assurance you need to get through a shift. I have seen really good nurses fail their orientations because they became paralyzed and couldn't make a confident decision. I blame the culture of the ICU and the preceptors who willfully overdramatize everything we do. Whoever told you that quote was full of bs. I do not empty the catheter bag with wild eyed dramatic intent, maybe some precision though.
I have been in the ICU for what feels like a hundred years and honestly all that intense feeling about what you are doing goes away or you go nuts.
Eventually you just get really,really good at your job just like every other job anyone does over time.
I really wish that we could stop making the ICU sound so damn scary all the time. It freaks people out and when you are freaked out you have a hard time thinking logically.
I have always called ICU nursing recipe medicine. Once you figure out your patients particular recipe for survival it’s all just a series of tasks to keep them cooking.
It doesn’t have to be scary and preceptors who get all drama queen and make the student terrified of making a mistake make me nuts.
ICU nursing is all about taking action according to your recipe with independence, If you are anxious all the time about making a mistake you will never develop the self assurance you need to get through a shift.
I have seen really good nurses fail their orientations because they became paralyzed and couldn’t make a confident decision. I blame the culture of the ICU and the preceptors who willfully overdramatize everything we do.

]]> By: linda-lou http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-22066 linda-lou Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:51:47 +0000 http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-22066 That was a great post. I am trying to get a job in the ICU and I will take your words to heart! That was a great post. I am trying to get a job in the ICU and I will take your words to heart!

]]> By: Rollernurse http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-22050 Rollernurse Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:41:21 +0000 http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-22050 Wow you sound just like a ER nurse:) We do EVERYTHING nonchalantly without precision. I am not sure what the intent portion of that quote means. Keep your head up...get through this and know that you have a great future as an ER nurse, not to mention great experience. Wow you sound just like a ER nurse:)

We do EVERYTHING nonchalantly without precision. I am not sure what the intent portion of that quote means.

Keep your head up…get through this and know that you have a great future as an ER nurse, not to mention great experience.

]]> By: Nurse Sean (dot) com » Change of Shift: Volume Two, Number 21 http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-22030 Nurse Sean (dot) com » Change of Shift: Volume Two, Number 21 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:15:30 +0000 http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-22030 [...] wrote a post about things I have learned as a new ICU nurse, and another post about preceptors in the [...] […] wrote a post about things I have learned as a new ICU nurse, and another post about preceptors in the […]

]]> By: QuietusLeo http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-21981 QuietusLeo Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:22:48 +0000 http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-21981 Be my guest. Be my guest.

]]> By: Sean http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-21980 Sean Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:18:36 +0000 http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-21980 Can I borrow that recipe for myself? :) Can I borrow that recipe for myself? :)

]]> By: QuietusLeo http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-21979 QuietusLeo Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:47:14 +0000 http://nursesean.com/musings/lessons-from-the-icu.htm#comment-21979 When I began my ICU rotation during my residency I invented the Resident's cocktail: 1 benzodiazapine 1 SSRI 1 cup of Maalox: shaken, not stirred When I began my ICU rotation during my residency I invented the Resident’s cocktail:
1 benzodiazapine
1 SSRI
1 cup of Maalox: shaken, not stirred

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