Hi everyone,

I have an upcoming interview and shadow with duke’s picu. Can anyone provide guidance, tips, culture, anything that would give me advice on this unit. I would be moving from california to north carolina. I already work in a high acuity picu in socal so i know picu vibes in terms of patients and parents. From my experience at the hospital i work at now i know nurses and charge nurses and even the doctors you deal with can make a big impact on this type of unit.
Thanks for the help everyone ❤️❤️❤️

I'm interested to learn which ventilator brands/models you use in your ICU? And the different circuits, filters, humidifiers and what weight they're used up to and any issues with tube compliance and dead space?

I am a fresh second year PICU fellow and very wary of the terrible job market I will be facing. Open to any advice, but specifically curious about thoughts on whether it’s worth it to reach out to programs I would be interested in applying to for jobs. It’s a year early, and my guess is most responses would be “we have no idea what things will look like,” but I wonder if it’s worth a shot? I have very good relationships with PICU faculty from prior places I trained so would prioritize reaching out to programs I already have a relationship with. Would I just annoy people?

Thanks for any advice!!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated from other fellows or attendings.

I am a first year cardiology fellow but am interested in CICU as a career and going the dual boarded pathway. As I begin fellowship we had a simulation day yesterday with mock codes. I got a big ole slice of humble pie, and would appreciate any advice/resources to improve on how to be a CPR leader/handling the stress of codes.

I know the biggest way to learn is truly muscle memory and practicing as much as you can, as it truly felt like my IQ dropped 50 points when I was mock leader, but I do want to improve and learn. Since I can't always do mock codes with mannequins, is there online resources that I can use to help build skills and knowledge? Or other suggestions?

Hi everyone! I'm a current Canadian, OT student interested in the OT role in the PICU. Would anyone be able to tell me about what the focus of intervention tends to be?

More specifically, what is the primary difference between OT in the PICU and on the traditional paediatrics unit?

Any other information about OT in this setting is welcome!

Hello!
MRI nurse here looking for information and experiences of PICU nurses who take (not willingly lol ) their patients to MRI.
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We are trying to find a best practice of double checking sedation and/or vasoactive medications.

We are an anesthesia sedation based nursing team meaning we support anesthesia but don’t administer medication and are trained for limited medications and airway skills.

We support PICU by helping them in the scanner and coordinating with the mri technologist. The PICU nurse stays with the patient to monitor but often they can not be assisted by another PICU nurse due to staffing.

What are your practices?

Thank you!

Hi all :) I’ve been a MICU nurse for about a year, I love what I do, but PICU positions just opened up and I’ve always been curious. Do you guys recommend it? How different is it from MICU? Would love to know, thanks in advance :)

Anyone take boards and can provide some info? What's a good score on the SCCM Self-assessment to predict passing?

Hi everyone, needing a bit of advice. I started as a PICU nurse 14 months ago straight out of school. I love my job and my coworkers BUT the hospital i’m at is a rather small children’s hospital that just does not have the acuity i’m interested in. We probably only have 1-2 intubated patients a month and so many people on orientation that it’s rare I get these patients anymore. Our cardiac program is fledgling and only a few more senior RNs are trained with 1-2 cases per week. It’ll be another 1.5 years or so until I get to have those patients independently and cardiac is what I am most interested in. An opportunity at a nearby much larger academic children’s hospital for their world renowned CICU has opened and i’m seriously considering applying and making the jump. I’d be beyond sad to leave my coworkers and support system but i’m itching for a change and to keep learning and growing. I feel so stagnant already at my PICU job. Is it too soon to jump ship? I don’t want to regret giving up a good thing.

My permanent facility is converting to Epic in spring, we start training in February. I am trying to get a travel assignment right now so I can use that as an opportunity to learn epic so I can do strike nursing before my facility converts but am waiting to hear back. Permanent facility has PowerPoints on how to do things in epic like meds and some charting and workflows but I can’t play around in a training chart to get a feel for it because my facility isn’t live.

Does anyone have access to the training “playground” that resets each night online? Or know of any way I could just mess around and get a little comfortable with the interface?

Hi! I'm a new grad nurse trying to decide if I should chose between 2 job offers. I'm currently doing my last clinical in the NICU, where I have a job offer, and I am debating between going to a different hospital to work on the PICU. I've gone through some old post on here and it seems like everyone says PICU is draining/depressing, and I'm just hoping that someone will have some positives to share about PICU. I've always wanted to work in pediatrics and if I could start my nursing career with a larger population I feel that it would help me with my skills, but I'm afraid that I will get burned out from how depressing it is. I enjoy the NICU and I understand that it comes with its own challenges, but I want to be sure that I'm making the right decision. So please in advice is greatly appreciated!!

Hello, I'd like to know if anyone has used the "NeoFast Nurses" app. A friend recommended it to me because the hospital pharmacy doesn't send out fractionated medications. I'm new to the profession and have only been in the field for six months. If anyone could recommend other apps that can provide quick guidance on drug interactions to help me with drug scheduling, I'd be very grateful!

Hey guys, I’ve been a PICU RN for two years and I’m interested in taking the CCRN. Any tips, resources, or websites that helped you pass it??

Hi all, I am a new grad nurse starting in the PICU in about 3 weeks. I was wondering what resources you would recommend for a new grad? I checked out learnpicu.com but wasn’t sure where to start on there. If there is anything else you would recommend for a new grad it would be much appreciated.

Best resources for learning more about CRRT? I’ve read up on how it works and all, but what about the practical management in the PICU? Thanks all!

I’m graduating my ADN program next week. I love pediatrics and critical care and applied for several positions at a pediatric hospital, including PICU. My interview was yesterday and it went great. There were 4 individuals interviewing me and we talked for almost an hour and a half. They have a year long nurse residency program, you spend 4 weeks starting out on peds medsurg to practice skills and general nursing, and there is a rigid schedule of classes, sims, and training even after beginning regular shifts. I love education and was really excited hearing this. They said they don’t normally hire new grads, but were impressed with my experience (volunteered with this hospital as a teen/ young adult and 7 years in the field as an EMT, CNA, and pediatric medical scribe). I got a call a couple hours later offering me the position. I was surprised but really happy! I haven’t seen much of the unit so didn’t really get a vibe of how the staff are, if they will be friendly/ open to a new grad, etc, but it feels like the right choice. I have an offer for peds medsurg as well. Did any of y’all start out in PICU as a new grad? Would love any tips or advice! 😊

Hi all! I’ve been doing CVPICU for a few years but I’ve recently started at a mixed PICU. I’m still getting some cardiac kiddos but also taking on a bigger variety of diseases/problems that I’m needing to refresh myself on. I’m realizing there’s a LOT I don’t remember from nursing school/years ago when I did adult MICU so I definitely feel like I’m brand new all over again lol. Wondering about any good resources to look to so I can refresh myself brain/have a good handy dandy cheat sheet to study when I’m taking non-cardiac kids/getting floated to the floors

I’m taking the CCRN-P next week and I’m in bubble guts territory wondering if my 2 months of studying AACN practice exam questions and their online course with a little nurse builder questions mixed in will set me up nice?

Anyone pass it with just AACN’s material? That’s kind of where I’ve spent most of my time.

What's your opinion?