hello everyone- once i graduate from highschool, i want to get into the nursing career (nicu). i would like to know if there is anything i could d now involving babies,like volenteering at a hospital? i heard somewhere its called volenteering to be a rocker or cuddler for the babies in a hosp?! anyone know if that is true or not? im 16 yrs old and live in new york. if anyone has any info for me involving this please let me know, itll be much apprieciated.

-thanks in advance :)

You would have to check with the hospitals in your area. Call the Volunteer Coordinator to see what they have available. Some hospitals have summer programs for high school students. Don't be too disappointed if you don't get to hold babies right away. Do what the hospital needs to have done, do it to the best of your ability, and learn from whatever experiences they give you.

Good Luck!

I am with premenrs. At 16 you have lots of time to get to know what you want to do. Volunteer, ask about the cuddler program with the NICU. They may also tell you about all sorts of other things you could try. You would be amazed at the number of people going into nursing "knowing" they know what they want to do when they graduate, only to find that they could be so inspired in another area. I have also seen people who were unit secretaries who went to nursing school just so they could do what we do. I can NOT imagine any other job that I would leave my family on weekends and holidays to do with such satisfaction. In short, I love my job. Besides...in what other job can you work in your PJ's? Good Luck!!! :chuckle

Some hospitals do have volunteer cuddlers.....I sure wish we had some at my place!! I agree with prmenrs, call the local hospitals. Good luck to you!

I the hospital that I work they do have people that do that but not on the NICU.

hello again- im definently going to get into the volenteering. if anyone is familar, could you please let me know what does a cuddler exactly do? i will keep you all updated with what i get into in the volentering, with or without babies, it will give me good experience. thanks to everyone for all the helpful information. :)

Hi :)

I was just wondering how you became so interested and focused on working in NICU with preemies at such a young age? I had no idea what a preemie was in high school! :) I had no interest in babies period until I was in my thirties, lol!

Anyway, I think it's a wonderful idea that you'd like to volunteer. When I was in NICU with my dd, there were many babies who were alone most of the day. One esp broke my heart, she was an older baby (I'm guessing who had been there for many months) who was awake and alert most of the day, but was alone in her room most of the day. You could see her because she was either in her swing or bouncy chair looking through the open door. I was only there from 11am to 7pm every day for 3 weeks, so her parent(s) may have been there before/after that, but I don't know. I do know that many of the babies there were from out of town, like my dd. I know one friend of mine, a teacher, had a baby there for 12 months...she could only visit on weekends during the school year because of her job because it's 90 miles away from here.

Sorry for rambling~ I hope you have great luck in your career and a wonderful future!

Warmest,

Wen

preemie mom

http://www.sunnibunni.com

Again, you would be oriented by the hospital, so the tasks would depend on what that hospital has people doing. Mostly, you hold babies. Hospitals that have cuddlers usually use adults, though, so, I'm trying to warn you that you may have to do other things besides 'cuddle'.

You need to talk to the volunteer coordinator @ a hospital near you. Why don't you post back what they say?

hi :)

i was just wondering how you became so interested and focused on working in nicu with preemies at such a young age? i had no idea what a preemie was in high school! :) i had no interest in babies period until i was in my thirties, lol!

anyway, i think it's a wonderful idea that you'd like to volunteer. when i was in nicu with my dd, there were many babies who were alone most of the day. one esp broke my heart, she was an older baby (i'm guessing who had been there for many months) who was awake and alert most of the day, but was alone in her room most of the day. you could see her because she was either in her swing or bouncy chair looking through the open door. i was only there from 11am to 7pm every day for 3 weeks, so her parent(s) may have been there before/after that, but i don't know. i do know that many of the babies there were from out of town, like my dd. i know one friend of mine, a teacher, had a baby there for 12 months...she could only visit on weekends during the school year because of her job because it's 90 miles away from here.

sorry for rambling~ i hope you have great luck in your career and a wonderful future!

warmest,

wen

preemie mom

http://www.sunnibunni.com

hi-i became so interested and focused on working in the nicu with babies i guess because iv been babysitting for a few years now- from newborn 1 month olds up to 6yrs old.im actually have a steady job babysitting my neighbors kids,a 1 month old, 3 n 5yr old,all three of them. i love babies an kids. thats how i know i want to work with babies,in the nursing career.its my interest,i love them! so im going to volenteer to get me some experience in the hospital. thanks again to all,keep in touch,and any other info please let me know.much apprieciated :)