Friday, March 5, 2010

watch out ICU world, here I come!

So, I hatched a plan to get off of my floor at any cost, and Wednesday I interviewed in the CCMU (critical care medical unit). The sickest patients in the hospital, or for that matter, the whole region. Multi-organ failure, highest deathrate in the hospital, vents and bedside dialysis and drips to keep practically every body system functioning... you get the idea. And I have this crazy idea that the nurses there are super smart, smarter than practically anyone else in the whole hospital, and I would like to be one of them.

My interview went great and I met a few nurses on the floor who had great, sarcastic, somewhat morbid senses of humor (fabulous!) They were fascinated by the fact that I was switching from surgical to medical, and did I have any idea what I was getting myself in to? They said nothing would be more important than my critical thinking skills and getting the big picture. Gulp. On the other hand, they absolutely love their jobs and the few times someone has actually left, they usually come back. So I said, sign me up. This sounds like the adventure of a lifetime!

And then came the true test... will my manager let me go or not? I waited two days and just got the email, I start in the CCMU on April 18th! It's going to be a whole new ball of wax and I feel like I need to go back to nursing school first. Or maybe med school. They tell me it's going to change me not just as a nurse, but as a person. I guess that's true. It's not ever what I imagined I'd be doing (I grew up wanting desperately to become a midwife), but it sure sounds like one hell of a challenge, and I feel up to it! (And scared to death...)

More to come!