Appropriate non-NICU PRN jobs?

Specialties NICU

Published

Hi fellow NICU nurses, I'm encountering a dilemma and I'd love to hear advice. I started in NICU as a new grad; it's my dream job, and I love going to work every day. I'm hoping to get a PRN job to work occasionally on my days off. In a perfect world I'd either pick up extra shifts at my unit, or get a PRN job within another local NICU; unfortunately, my unit has put the kibosh on any OT (FTE nurses can't pick up shifts), and no other local NICUs are hiring PRN employees right now.

I live in my city's medical district, and there are literally hundreds of clinics and a few major hospitals nearby. Unfortunately, my current hospital is the only one in the medical district that delivers babies; therefore, L&D/nursery jobs are out. Most of the PRN jobs I've found are in outpatient surgery centers. Outpatient surgery sounds very interesting to me, but I'm worried that my super-specialized NICU skill set won't translate to typical adult or or most peds roles. I also don't have a car, which effectively rules out home health.

Have any other NICU nurses had success in non-NICU settings? I'm sure I could learn any new skill set, but I doubt an employer would want to give me extensive 'new to specialty' training if I'm only PRN.

I'm thinking maybe an OB practice might be a good fit? I don't know anything about laboring women (only their babies), but at least that's tangentially related to NICU? I could also look at peds practices, but I know basically nothing about kids who are older than ~2 months.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

Unfortunately you are experiencing one of the problems of specializing so early in nursing. NICU is extremely specialized and doesn't translate well to most, if any, specialties.

I do have a med-surg PRN job, but I worked there full-time for eight months before entering NICU.

Are you open to picking something outside of nursing for some extra money?

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Pediatric private duty is well suited to your skill set. Many infants with chronic conditions at home need care.

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Specializes in TICU.

What about PRN PACU in a surgery center? Or applying for a PRN PICU position. I've never worked NICU so I'm not sure of your current skill set.

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