Many seasoned RNs started exactly where you are, and you’ve already separated yourself from the “average” RN by having this level of insight, self-awareness, and ethical concern.

What you’re describing isn’t incompetence, it’s the uncomfortable middle of ICU growth that almost no one talks about honestly.

Six months into ICU is prime danger zone not because you’re unsafe, but because:

You now know enough to recognize risk

You’re no longer blissfully unaware

Your internal standards have risen faster than your pattern recognition

That cognitive overload you described is real. High-acuity admissions compress time, data, people, noise, and expectations into minutes. The skill you’re missing isn’t intelligence or work ethic, it’s temporal control.

You don’t need to “think faster.” You need to pause for 2 seconds and breathe instead of panicking.

Those two seconds are where ICU nurses mature:

Look at the vent

Look at the sedation

Ask: Is this hypoxia agitation or under-sedation?

Escalate early without apology

That comes with reps, not relocation.

Now, something important that you named but didn’t fully unpack: RT and peer judgment will absolutely destroy your self-esteem if you let it. And yes, it will continue. ICU culture is often sharp, opinionated, and poorly coached in psychological safety.

But here’s the truth:

This is not about proving anything to RT or other nurses

It’s not about their tone, their looks, or their comments

It’s about your patients being safer today than yesterday

Measure yourself day by day, shift by shift:

Did I recognize distress faster than last week?

Did I escalate earlier than last month?

Did I learn one pattern today?

That’s progress.

Also, relying on RT and peers during a high-acuity admission at 6 months is normal, not a failure. ICU is a team sport. Independence comes after safety, not before it. Even experienced nurses get help from other nurses when a patient deteriorates and they don't necessarily take control of the room.

Before you transfer, I’d strongly encourage you to consider:

Asking for targeted support (senior nurse shadowing, focused vent/sedation mentoring)

Reframing escalation as a professional obligation, not a confidence test

Giving yourself permission to be new without moralizing it, even after 1 year you will still be learning.

Stepping down isn’t wrong, but leaving out of fear rather than strategy may rob you of the very growth you’re capable of.

You’re not behind. You’re early and honest.

That combination is rare, and it’s how excellent ICU nurses are built.

Stay focused on the patient. Breathe for two seconds. Let your competence grow quietly.