Image via Wikimedia Commons

By Marcy Phipps, RN, who is a regular contributor to this blog. She emphasizes that the identity of the impatient practitioner described in this post has been altered in significant ways to prevent any chance of recognition.

“This is why new nurses have no place in critical care!” said the trauma physician. “I’m sure she’s a fine nurse, but she should be getting experience with these situations on the floor!”

The issue of whether new nurses should work in critical care comes up from time to time. It seems to polarize people, and it always touches a nerve with me. I was hired directly into the ICU upon passing the boards, as were many of the nurses I work with. My hospital offers a program to new graduates that includes training and education specific to critical care and an extended clinical experience with a preceptor. Admittedly, there is a steep learning curve, but I wouldn’t consider it unsafe—and comments that suggest the contrary irritate me, because they undermine new nurses and foster negativity.

This patient probably would have pulled his PEG tube out no matter how experienced his nurse was, and I’m not sure the step-down floor would have been a “better” place for a new nurse to manage that situation. The patient acuity is lower on the floor, but there are also fewer nurses around to help out, and a […]