I worked on a gen/med floor in a level one trauma hospital when I started nursing. It provided a good foundation for being a new nurse, but it was a slower-paced job than I was expecting. Downtime has always been challenging for me, so I decided to change positions and become an intensive care nurse. Here is where I found my passion for action, well, in a sense. I felt a deep sense of accomplishment and had more confidence in my skills at the end of each shift. And as I took on the position of charge nurse, I realized that I was good at being a leader. I enjoyed working in a high-intensity environment, and people responded well to me. With this in mind, I decided to take things a step further in my career, so I applied to the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AG-ACNP) program here at Walden.As an ICU travel nurse, technically a “COVID ICU travel nurse,” the workload has become more demanding in the past year and a half. During this time, I couldn’t physically be with my family due to obvious reasons, which made coping alone difficult. I also started noticing a feeling of being utterly drained of energy. I was burned out! According to research, health workers can encounter various psychological difficulties when working in high-pressure and high-risk situations, such as those associated with disasters and pandemics (Salamah, 2020). So instead of taking the break I so desperately needed, I decided to head back to nursing school and keep that momentum of intensity going. Unfortunately, distraction is a coping mechanism I have learned to master. So it’s clear to say, here is where I’ve been struggling a bit with making a definite career choice. Though I love taking care of patients and providing support to families, I started questioning whether or not working in a hospital setting as a nurse practitioner is what I wanted to do. I knew I needed some guidance and clarity if I wanted to stay on the path of becoming an acute care NP.
Being an active member of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), I knew that I would find information to tackle my fatigue and learn new ways to plan for career advancement in the field I once loved. In addition, AACN provides resources to assist nurses in prioritizing their well-being while providing substantial care to patients and their families. For example, nurse leaders affiliated with the organization offer sessions on practical mindful activities to improve personal and organizational resilience during current challenging times in healthcare. As a result, nurses will learn to implement strategic pauses and thoughtful moments into their workday (Bay, 2021).
There are several professional nursing organizations whose primary focus is on critical care nursing for nurses practicing in acute care, one being AACN. The AACN has provided progressive and critical care nurses with world-class resources, education, and support for over 50 years and has over 130,000 members (AACN, 2021). Listed below are some of the membership options for those who are interested in joining. Membership fees can be found on the AACN website.