Can I ask something that sounds off-topic?

Do you have hobbies outside of work? In my field there are people who really don’t. They pour all of their being into their identity of the field, and when it comes time to retire or they medically can’t work it destroys them. And usually the reason they medically can’t work is the nature of the work itself. Many of the same occupational stressors that you yourself would face as an emergency nurse.

I only ask because it sounds like the only discussions you willingly engage in are related to patient care/nursing. Caring for others without nurturing yourself is not sustainable.

I’m sorry to hear you were removed from ER. ICU is a really valuable learning space, since the most critical patients have so many body systems involved. If you wanted to grow, you can also then branch into related specialties like neuro ICU or cicu etc. I would highly, highly recommend finding something that fills your cup outside of work first, though. Then it also gives you something to talk about that you don’t find boring or tedious :)