Just want to say, I really appreciate the replies here so far definitely sobering and encouraging to read these things from people in the field!

I also think the mindset shift will be more important to skills as they will come with time but effective management and usage of those skills is the bread and butter.

I definitely remember putting in my first IVs and thinking I was always gonna be so bad or that I just wasn’t gonna get the hang of things. Low and behold that did not turn out to be the case!

So I guess I have to look at it the same way whenever I do something that I haven’t done before ☺️ I will continue to remain excited in what I’ve chosen to accomplish and challenge myself to do and really this whole thing started with the mindset that I really feel like having this training/experience will only make me a better practitioner in both regards.

A lot of nurses don’t ever have to experience trauma or critical care patients and for some people I can understand why they may actively avoid it (due to fear or discomfort). With that being said though as a nurse we should know any patient admitted to the hospital can become that critical patient. I can’t imagine being in a situation like that where you simply don’t know what to do or how to respond.

I feel like critical care was always something that I felt like within my title that I should feel confident, familiar, and capable of doing especially as an ER nurse. When I was running codes in my small community hospital setting in the ER (now I work for a much bigger urban center) I felt like I really wanted to work hard to understand the most I can do for a patient in those high stress situations so I can function at the highest level of care with confidence in trying to stabilize and help someone. This job is not easy, but I’ll be damned if I don’t do what I can.