To ask for career advice.

[MakeMineALarge1]

I am a senior band 5 staff nurse in ICU and love my job, I am now ready for promotion to Band 6 sister, but sisters roles in ICU don't come up very often and when they do the competition is high.

I was eligible to apply last time they came out but didn't get shortlisted as I didn't explain how I didn't meet 1 of the essential criteria.

So - there are loads of other band 6 jobs on wards - but I don't want to work on a ward.

Or there is a job come up in the community that I have a good chance of getting - b6 - IV specialist role - but I don't know if it would be exciting enough for me, I love ICU. Plus this job is only a fixed term contract for 12 months. Should I just go for the interview and hope in the meantime my unit advertises again? Should I stay as a b5 in a job I love?

I don't know what to do with my life..................(well I want to retire and drink wine all day)

Have you worked in the community before? Obviously it's totally different from ICU.

If you love ICU then I would probably wait for an ICU job to come up. Also if the other job is only for 12 months then it seems daft giving up a permanent job for something you may not enjoy.

If say it's two very different roles although IV would still give it a fairly acute feel. Is it within your trust? Could you ask for a secondment?

I'd say

Would having B6 experience help you to get a B6 ICU role? If so you could consider a secondment to a ward role, if your current managers would let you go.

In an acute ward I mean. I would imaging that the community role is too different to ICU to be of much help to your career.

I imagine it will be care of IV's, PICCs, hickman lines in community, antibiotics/TPN administration? The complete opposite of acute critical care nursing.

As a fellow ICU nurse in a very similar position i would say either wait it out for next lot of B6's be released or look at icu B6's in other trusts? IMO, if you leave icu it will be very difficult to get back in, especially as a B6. Its frustrating but if you love it as much as you say i think leaving for a community job is a bad move. Good luck what ever you decide

Thank you for all your comments, secondment isn't possible, as the community job is with a different trust to the one I am in.

I think I need to wait it out, if I am honest, the last set of jobs that went out were for internal candidates only, so if I left, I wouldn't even get an interview.