[Tiny1Nisolet]

I am a new grad who recently passed boards and have been working in the NICU now for about 2 months. I am about two weeks from being out of orientation. I know I have grown so much over the past two months but I know I still have an overwhelming amount to learn.

One particular area that I feel intimidated by is educating parents. I feel as though I am doing all I can to grasp what is going on, I feel very underqualified to educate them about what is going on. How did you handle this when you were new to the unit? I know I can grab a doc (which is probably most preferable) but are there certain areas that I should study and know well (common things that we will see on most babies)? If so, I would love some ideas.

I do have my "brain" sheet down and feel rather good about organizing my time. I am able to keep up as long as things go as planned, but it would not take much to throw me off and I would be drowning.

Also, how do you handle your admission process. In my unit, the nurses are extrmemly helpful to anyone who is admitting. I the few admissions that I have been apart of, someone takes the report from transport while I have gotten the baby settled in. I have found that while it is so nice, I feel as though I do not have the complete picture as to what has gone on with the kid. Any advice here?

Thanks so much everyone. This site is truly invaluable!

[EricEnfermero]

Teaching is tough! You're trying to take extremely complex information from the docs and other staff, understand it yourself, then rephrase it in such a way that a layperson can get it.

One thing that might help: In my unit, we have videos that talk about the basics - intro to the NICU environment, basic baby care, etc. We also have some literature for parents on things like jaundice. By reading/watching this stuff yourself, you'll not only make sure that you have an accurate grasp of the knowledge, but you'll get an example of how to break it down to the families. You might also have one of the more experienced nurses casually watch your teaching a time or two and see if they can make suggestions.

Re: admissions, I don't know of any nurse that can do them alone. Teamwork is a good thing, but you're right that it can be difficult trying to understand the whole process when there are several people doing things at once. The next time you know that you're getting an admission, you might ask the charge nurse if you can tag along with the nurse that gets report rather than doing the same old admission tasks.

[Tiny1Nisolet]

Originally Posted by EricEnfermero

Teaching is tough! You're trying to take extremely complex information from the docs and other staff, understand it yourself, then rephrase it in such a way that a layperson can get it.

One thing that might help: In my unit, we have videos that talk about the basics - intro to the NICU environment, basic baby care, etc. We also have some literature for parents on things like jaundice. By reading/watching this stuff yourself, you'll not only make sure that you have an accurate grasp of the knowledge, but you'll get an example of how to break it down to the families. You might also have one of the more experienced nurses casually watch your teaching a time or two and see if they can make suggestions.

Re: admissions, I don't know of any nurse that can do them alone. Teamwork is a good thing, but you're right that it can be difficult trying to understand the whole process when there are several people doing things at once. The next time you know that you're getting an admission, you might ask the charge nurse if you can tag along with the nurse that gets report rather than doing the same old admission tasks.

I have been the nurse that gets the report as well. That time I felt like I knew more of what is going on with the patient. However, if it is truly "my" admission, won't I be the one getting the babies vitals, getting the baby tucked in etc..? How do you do it in that case?

I also loved your idea about reading what we put out for our parent's! I will definately look into that!

[Humbled_Nurse]

Well my advice to you is:

Time

Patience

Experience

It is going to take some time to get comfortable with admits. The best thing you can do is watch other nurses admit and get as much experience with admits as possible. First try to get experience with the less critical babies so you can find your own routine when admitting a baby and as you get quicker then you can move on to more critical babies. Admissions can be very stressful and I used to hate them, but now they don't bother me much unless it is an hour before the end of my shift

As far as education goes that will take time as well. Eric hit it right on. The best way to get a basic understanding of disease process is to read handouts designed for families/lay people. March of Dimes has a great web site with lots of easy to understand info. on neonatal disease processes. I suggest you go there and read.

Right now you are still very new and most likely task oriented as most new nurses are. It's very hard to see the "big picture" That will take a long time. Right now you are just focused on what you have to get done in your shift and hoping that you do it right. I can remember when I was a new grad still in orientation and my preceptor said that our intubated baby needed suctioning, but we could wait until we got back from lunch. I was so focused and nervous about suctioning that baby so during lunch that was all I could think about. Now suctioning an intubated baby is no big deal at all, but as a new nurse it freaked my out.

As you gain more experience and confidence then you won't be so task oriented and you will get a firm grasp on the "big picture" with your patients.

Remember to be patient with yourself. It will take at least a year or two to feel comfortable in the NICU environment, but even after years of experience there will still be situations that come up that you are uncomfortable with.

Good luck and keep us updated! Sounds like you are doing a good job!

[smart99guy]

congrads

[marie229]

was it hard to get into the NICU right after graduation? Did you have anything else going on that gave you more than other applicants?

[staciebeth]

I also got a job in the NICU right out of school. There is an awesome book designed for the parents of NICU kids, I read it and it clarified a lot of areas for me and put everything in layman's terms (which is great for your learning and explaining things to parents). The book is called "Preemies: The Essential Guide for Premature Babies". It's by Dana Wechsler Linden, Emma Trenti Paroli, and Mia Wechsler Doron, M.D. I picked it up at Barnes and Noble in the parenting section. Since it's not a textbook, it's not too pricey. It's really easy reading!
Good luck!