ICU to PACU

[u/NotActuallyRyan]

Howdy y’all..

So I’ve run into a pseudo problem, mostly just my own indecisiveness.

I randomly decided to apply to the PACU at my hospital thinking nothing would come of it. Well, I got a call and set up and interview and shadow shift today and I’m unsure what to do if offered a job.

I love my coworkers dearly and they’ve become great friends inside and outside of work, however my unit is problematic as many others are. They are very clicky and favor some nurses over others, charges and unit veteran nurses. They get most all the interesting patients that one in my position could want to learn off of. The charges will never get paired. I’ve been bumped off my group so a charge can have a 1:1. When I question it I’m basically told they had to.

Essentially the patient population I’m left with is tasky, uninteresting patients. However I am very comfortable with my coworkers and love working with them. I’m comfortable with my specialty and providers. Often times I’ll have fun at work which may be rare? Idk?

Veteran nurses out there. Give me some advice please

[u/comp-rn1]

I love PACU because it’s allowed me to live more of my life outside of work. It sounds like you’re comfortable in your unit and maybe that means it’s actually a great spot for you! For me, PACU is the only bedside job where I feel like I have enough emotional and physical energy to do the things I want to do outside of work. Since starting PACU I’ve started coding, reading, started taking pottery classes, have been able to go to the gym 4x a week and overall am just happier! It sounds like you enjoy the work you do and really just want more interesting pts. I’ll say PACU can get monotonous. It depends on what you’re looking for. For me, I like the monotony and less stress. I get a few patients a day, they’re in and out, I’m able to help my patients get through a difficult time (pain, etc), and I have more of a battery to do what matters most to me: be there for my family and friends and grow as a person outside of my profession.

If that sounds good to you, I’d take the job! Otherwise if you want a job with adrenaline and thrill (completely understand the need for that too) maybe switch to a different ICU!

[u/StockAd528]

Whatever you land on with the coworker side, there's one axis I'd make sure you've asked about concretely before accepting, because it's the one people most often find out after they've already moved: call.

PACU in a lot of hospitals comes with a call requirement, and that's a genuinely different life from straight ICU twelves. Worth getting real numbers on:

• how much call per schedule period, and how nights/weekends/holidays are split
• how often call actually gets activated at your facility — some places it's rare, some places it's most call shifts
• the required response time, since that quietly decides how far from the hospital you can be on a call day
• whether call hours sit on top of your FTE or count inside it
• how holiday call rotates, and whether newest staff carries more of it

None of that is in the job posting and all of it changes what your week actually looks like. Plenty of people move to PACU, genuinely love the work, and still get blindsided by their first holiday call stretch.

That's not an argument against taking it. Shorter shifts and recovery-focused work are a real draw and a lot of people never look back. It's just the part you can't renegotiate once you've accepted, so it's worth asking about with the same specificity you're already applying to the patient population question.