How hard is it for a new grad to get a job in the NICU?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi,

I'm thinking about doing a 1yr accelerated BSN program and was wondering how hard it would be for a new grad to get a job in the NICU? Is this an area that's pretty much impossible to get into w/o a couple of years experience? If so, what should be the steps a new grad should take in they wanted to work in the NICU?

Thanks! :D

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, educator.

it's not impossible, but with the current job market, most any ICU job requires some prior experience in ICU or med/surg. Just try for the job, you may get it! If not, find out the requirements at that particular facility, then work toward your goal. Good luck to you.

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it's not impossible, but with the current job market, most any ICU job requires some prior experience in ICU or med/surg. Just try for the job, you may get it! If not, find out the requirements at that particular facility, then work toward your goal. Good luck to you.

With the current job market, isn't it really hard for a new grad to get any job? I think I've seen a couple of threads (I need to read some more; I just skimmed through them) where a lot of new grads were complaining about the lack of jobs available...

I'd be looking for a job in about 2 years but I was just wondering how hard it would be, to find a job, and if it would be a smart move on my part to become a nurse. I don't want to go through school then not be able to find a job b/c I'm a new grad w/ no experience. :scrying: What do you guys think about this issue?

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socal is hiring still

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We just graduated from the Texas Tech Accelerated BSN Program last Friday. One of the girls in our program of 10 got a job in NICU. I applied to NICU as well, but I was thrilled to get a job in Pedi instead. I will float to pedi when our census gets low.

So, to answer your question, no it's not impossible. Advice: Start applying at least 3 months before graduation and introduce yourself in person so that the director puts a name with a face. Good luck!

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Specializes in Periop.

Hi Lifelong, are you going to be working in Lubbock? I am interested in working for UMC as a new grad, opinions on the hospital and how hard it is to get a position there. Thanks

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Hi,

I'm thinking about doing a 1yr accelerated BSN program and was wondering how hard it would be for a new grad to get a job in the NICU? Is this an area that's pretty much impossible to get into w/o a couple of years experience? If so, what should be the steps a new grad should take in they wanted to work in the NICU?

Thanks! :D

Actually it is not hard to get a NICU job right out of school. As a matter of fact it is almost preferred since the NICU can mold a person into the type of nurse they should be instead of coming from other areas and having different ways of practicing. The NICU is a very specific field and we like to "create" our own nurses! As a new grad you would go through about a 12 week orientation to get you comfortable to practice on your own. Usually after that you are assigned a mentor to work with who will just be available to answer questions and help out if needed. this is usually another nurse in the unit with their own assignment.

An excellent way to break into the NICU is to do a nurse externship, volunteer in the unit, or be a nurses aid (if that particular unit has aids...most do not...but some do). This is a great way to get yourself familiar with the unit and to have some face time with the manager(s). I know of several people who did this while going to nursing school, graduated, passed the boards and stepped right into RN orientation.

Also, the NICU is an ever-changing place. The turnover rate is fairly high for various reasons so there are usually jobs available in that field even when the economy is slow...especially in the bigger city hospitals. I recommend finding one of those places and trying it out. i also recommend finding a NICU that is based in a children's hospital. It makes a difference. I've worked in both and there's just something special about an entire hospital focused on children.

If you do decide to go NICU I wish you the best of luck. I've been a proud NICU nurse for 10 years now. I don't think I could've picked anything more rewarding.

Good luck!

Michele

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Specializes in NICU, Nursery.

As I have said before, it's a VERY competitive world these days so be prepared.

Yes, you can get a job in the NICU as a new grad. That's what happened to me. ;)

Question is when you will get that job. Apply, but don't be surprised if you get assigned to other areas.

I think you're worrying too much about this. What you should pay attention to is getting through nursing school first and finishing it. Finding work should be your priority after you have graduated or are almost through. It's not easy. So please, stop thinking about this first and focus on your studies.

You said so yourself- you still have 2 years. We never know what the future holds. The important thing is what we do today to shape it. Word of advice: Live in the present. You may be missing good stuff worrying too much about the future.

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Actually it is not hard to get a NICU job right out of school. As a matter of fact it is almost preferred since the NICU can mold a person into the type of nurse they should be instead of coming from other areas and having different ways of practicing. The NICU is a very specific field and we like to "create" our own nurses! As a new grad you would go through about a 12 week orientation to get you comfortable to practice on your own. Usually after that you are assigned a mentor to work with who will just be available to answer questions and help out if needed. this is usually another nurse in the unit with their own assignment.

...

The turnover rate is fairly high for various reasons so there are usually jobs available in that field even when the economy is slow...especially in the bigger city hospitals. I recommend finding one of those places and trying it out. i also recommend finding a NICU that is based in a children's hospital. It makes a difference. I've worked in both and there's just something special about an entire hospital focused on children. Good luck!

Michele

Michele, I respectfully disagree with the whole concept of the supposed "molding of a person into the type of nurse they should be instead of coming from other areas and having different ways of practicing," as well as ".. . we like to 'create' our own nurses!"

Really, that mentality is hogwash IMHO--again, please, take no offense. What's more, it doesn't occur only in NICU. . .trust me. I feel it negates the overall value of one's learned nursing and medicine that was gained from other areas--which I can say, after having done adults, peds, and neonates, is often most valuable. Limited perspectives in nursing and medicine limit the necessity of thinking "outside the box" as they say. It actually can limit critical thinking as well as creative thinking and thinking that involves development of the art as well as the science of nursing. Yes I know NICU is very specialized; but some NICU nurses as well as nurses from other specialized areas really need to get over that kind of mentality. It is a big cause of lack of diversity in these settings as well. Actually it can lead to a lot of unnecessary conflict that causes increased turnover--either by discouraging the RN new to the unit, or by way of weeding that/those RN/s out of the unit. A great, great many truly competent and capable nurses are "worked out" of a unit b/c of this kind of mentality IMO.

You know, I have always been happy to learn things that are different and new as well as learn from everyone and everything. A person that is open to real life-long learning, I feel, is humble enough to learn from an insect or a plant or whatever. And an orientee senses this confidence as well as humility from a preceptor.

We can tend to put nurses in boxes, and we tend to limit new nurses in a particular area of specialization. Personally, I think a fair bit of cross-training can be an excellent thing if people are open about it on both ends.

Also, in general in a lot of pediatric areas, there can be this attitude of exclusivity and even, hate to say it, a sense of superiority--as if peds or neos are the superior areas in which to work. It isn't a matter of better or worse or molding people--nurses per se--as if we were applying a cookie cutter to each of them. That is so far from what true professionalism is about, I feel. Again, please understand. It is nothing at all personal to you. I think, however, this is a mentality that can be widespread and learned and even encouraged, and well frankly, I don't think it is a good one.

Shoot, I've even worked with docs that obtained clinical training/ed in various areas of practice, and it really did make them better physicians. Yes, things may need to be applied in a different way; but we are still caring for humans and not, say, dinosaurs. LOL And in fact, in peds and neos, we are still caring for adults, b/c we are treating, teaching, and interacting with the family and not just the patient.

Addressing the OP, well, honestly in many areas NICUs can be tough to get into; but there are bigger hospitals with internships or internship-like programs--and yes, mostly they are 12 weeks, but I've seen some that were 24-32 weeks or more. I think these are along the lines of true nurse internships.

I also think a big part of coming into such an area--neonatal is that, well, as a new nurse you have no other perspectives mostly, so those precepting you, depending who and how they are, don't have to worry about being challenged or threatened in any way if you have nothing to compare anything to really. But why is questioning and challenging and having different perspective a bad thing???? If anything, it stretches the person/s and the mind--not only indiviudally but even collectively.

My advanced nursing degree is for nursing education. The best "preceptors" or experiened expert nurses working as trainer/educator/mentors to the new nurse or the nurse new to the area or unit are those that have no issues about feeling challenged. Not only do they encourage questions, they also encourage various perspectives and discussions over them. They are also incredibly patient, even as they must be intensely focused on what is the highest priority and what is best for their patients. It's a juggling act. Some do it better than others. These are excellent professional role models IMO. They are not hypercritical or judgmental or impatient or quick to not settle issues between themselves and the preceptee-orientee. They relate things in writing and in verbal communication with other nurses and the NM and nurse educator in the most objective terms--measurable and more unbiased and unemotional terms. When they do show emotion, generally it is edifying and positive toward the preceptee. They support and show understanding, even when they have to be strong on particular clinical points related to policy, procedure, expectations, and pt priorities. They relate any concerns or objections with respect and understanding--knowing that really they are teaching adult learners--not preschoolers or the like or teen-aged girls in high school. (I particularly dislike the catty, teen-aged mentalities, which some do not show directly, but when the preceptee is away, they play that game and gossip and basically elicit a sense of poor confidence for the new nurse or nurse new to the unit w/ another or others in the group. Yes, for some, making someone in the down position helps them to "feel," at least temporarily, superior. That is very sad, and it sets the tone for the unit.) But then too, some of that has to do with whether or not those in the group have decided they like the new preceptee. Once they decide they may not like the newbie, well, there's less and less objectivity involved--not good.

But I have seen some nurses that were exceptional at precepting--and not just because they were "talked up by others," or the "right" people.

Also, keep in mind that too often there are more preceptees than preceptors, and not everyone that is a preceptor wants to be one--or is particularly gifted at it. And again, there can be a number of weeding mentalities that go on that work against our profession.

Whatever you do and wherever you choose to work, please stay on top of weekly documentation and discussion of progress through the orientation/precepting process--and look for use of consistent, objective measures regarding competencies and evaluations and feedback. If you are not getting them--or if they truly aren't specific, measureable and more objective, or if you are not getting these meetings on a consistent, regular basis, you must talk with someone in leadership, like the NM and nurse educator, b/c it really is a bad sign--not necessarily b/c you couldn't work in the position w/ confidence or excellence--it just may be a matter of something that they need to work on on their end--and some units will, and some won't. The newbie, if so decided, will always be the problem or bad guy, and so why meet w/ objective measures and evals. This will only make it harder to oust the nurse they have deemed somehow as "undesireable" for whatever reason. But you won't know where you stand, and week in and week out, you really should. No nurse orientee should ever be put in that position of standing on capricious, subjective ground. So then you have to do your part in terms of keeping up with the paperwork, inquiry about progress sessions and concerns/evaluations, and even journaling on your own. I highly recommend doing so; for no matter what happens, you will take so much more with you from the experience. And you may also learn about the kind of unit culture you really want to work in--this is actually quite important.

In terms of finding such a position, mostly I think you really have to keep looking, even if it means you work in another area for a while. Learn and grow where your are planted as much as possible. Learning from that particular area is something can happily take with you, and is invaluable. Really it definitely can make you a better, more insightful nurse, even in a different and more specialized area. It is not necessarily a matter of having to "unlearn" from a certain area. If this were true, growth in critical thinking would never be possible. You simply learn what is different and why-and the other particulars of where and how, etc, and it all can really make so much sense to you. I have a story that is a fine example of this, but there is not time to share it now.

The other thing is that if you do find a NICU position, you can pretty much bet that it will either be for full-time nights OR day/night rotation--ongoing--not just occasional nights. Frankly for this I think seniority should matter. To me, it makes sense that if a nurse in the particular unit has done many years doing full-time nights, or night w/ rotation, yes, when a full-time day slot opens up, the senior nurse should get it. But a number of children's hospitals require that you always be open to the reality of rotation--even if you are not doing, say, nights on an ongoing basis. Just the way it goes in those places and many of the bigger, university type settings. And I think that is another reason for turnover. If you have to wait a couple years or more for the opportunity for predominately days to open up, well people tend to get fed up and find another day job elsewhere--even if it is not the same kind of unit.

And depending on the children's hospital, although we do get babies straight out of delivery, there is something to be gained from working in maternal health centers where you are expected, as the NICU nurse, to attend the baby's delivery. You will be required to attend these deliveries, and that is good experience that you may not receive in a children's hospital--with at least one exception I know.

There are multiple options. I worked with one nurse though that worked in an adult open heart unit with me until she was able to land a NICU position. She hung in there a couple years, learned a lot from getting a lot of fresh post-op hearts--lots of invaluable understanding about normal hemodynamics--vasculars, lungs, etc, and then she found a position in the children's hospital NICU and did extremely well there.

Really it's up to you, your direction, goals, persistence, and willingness to bend, at least for a while, until you find more of what you want.

I am at a place in my life and career where I have found that gaining knowledge and expertise in particular areas is great; but what ultimately more wonderful is working with a truly open and collaborative group of people--for that can often make or break the work experience. Yes, you may still learn a lot about the particular area, but not at well as you might have if the environment was more collaborative and supportive. (For some folks, harsh clique formations seems like job security/seniority benefits for them. Not all, but you may see what I mean--though I hope you never do.) Once you find a truly collegiate, support work environment, well, you really miss it when you don't have it--even though you are learning a lot in new and interesting areas. I can look back over the years--look at the variety of critical care areas I've worked in, and really see in retrospect that working with a great team of people is more than the cherry on the sundae. I like working with teams of people in open coalitions rather than fractions or cliques. Really I think a lot of people do. It's just that for a number of reasons, such environments can be difficult to find--particularly in our profession. I hope and pray this changes overall in our field. Well I hope this helps you.

Good luck to you.

And again Michelle, it's just my opinion. I am sure you are wonderful in what you do, and you are not at all like some of the negative element/s to which I referred. I am, however, willing to guess that there's a good chance after ten years you definitely have an idea of what such mentalities are about and the havoc they can cause. And well, working in different areas has been good not only for me, but for a number of other nurses with whom I"ve had the privilege to work. I just have a broader perspective on things, and I just feel it's healthier for our profession overall. Some may disagree. So be it. But I do know what you mean from your perspective.

Take care.

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Actually it is not hard to get a NICU job right out of school. As a matter of fact it is almost preferred since the NICU can mold a person into the type of nurse they should be instead of coming from other areas and having different ways of practicing. The NICU is a very specific field and we like to "create" our own nurses! As a new grad you would go through about a 12 week orientation to get you comfortable to practice on your own. Usually after that you are assigned a mentor to work with who will just be available to answer questions and help out if needed. this is usually another nurse in the unit with their own assignment...

Great info. Thanks!

As I have said before, it's a VERY competitive world these days so be prepared.

Yes, you can get a job in the NICU as a new grad. That's what happened to me. ;)

Question is when you will get that job. Apply, but don't be surprised if you get assigned to other areas.

I think you're worrying too much about this. What you should pay attention to is getting through nursing school first and finishing it. Finding work should be your priority after you have graduated or are almost through. It's not easy. So please, stop thinking about this first and focus on your studies.

You said so yourself- you still have 2 years. We never know what the future holds. The important thing is what we do today to shape it. Word of advice: Live in the present. You may be missing good stuff worrying too much about the future.

I know. I'm really bad at that. I guess I'm going overboard w/ asking a bunch of questions before I make a decision b/c I've already been in a healthcare program and I didn't ask these questions before I got there...and, as a result, I ended up not liking it and had to leave/change careers. A definite waste of money/time and I don't want to go through that again. I've been scarred. Lol. So now, I'm focused on the future and I feel like I need to cross all of my I's and T's before choosing another career. :typing

But, you're right...I need to live in the present!

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The NICU's here hire new grads. I got a job there right out of school, so did some others that I know. I cannot say every NICU will hire new grads, but there are definitely ones that do.

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Well shoot, Samadams8 you really can make a person have to scroll down a page!

j/k :wink2:

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