Are NEW GRADS successful in the NICU?

dianacs · Sep 1, 2004

Read this thread:

https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75486

It may not seem relevant at first...but by the 2nd page of posts, it will.

mac23 · Sep 2, 2004

Good Luck on your NCLEX. I'm sure you'll do great. I started in the NICU as a new grad and I'm still there so yep you can be successful in the NICU as a new grad. Best of luck to you. Most programs here do 12 weeks of orientation just be sure that additional weeks are an option if you do not feel like you are ready to come off orientation.

By the way......I LOVE San diego!

Hi everyone !
I am so excited I found this group because I have many questions.
I just graduated from school July 16th and will be taking my NCLEX next week.
But my questions is -I was offered a NICU positon at a level 3 NICU and I wonder how hard will the transition be for me as a NEW GRAD that has no expeirence in the NICU.
I do know I would LOVE it and my passion is there but I don't want to make any mistakes either.
I also wonder if the training program is long enough- it's only 9 weeks and the new grads are lumped in w/the nurses who are transitioning from adults.
Some of my instructors have said that I should work w/adults first and then switch to NICU because it will help me w/my orginizational skills and that if i specialize too soon then I will be doing myself a disservice and can never go back to adult nursing.
Is this true?
I also wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions on a good NICU book for me to look.
Caroline in San Diego

KRVRN, BSN, RN · Sep 2, 2004

Many of my instructors told us that a year of med-surg was a good idea. I personally think that that is probably true for almost every other area of nursing besides NICU! Yes, you may learn some time management skills. Quite frankly, after a few weeks of full shifts handling pts by yourself (with a preceptor back up), you'll have some basic time management skills anyway, no matter where you work.

I don't feel that you'll be somehow ruining yourself to ever going back to adult nursing if you work in the NICU. If you change to a different area of nursing, you'll have to go through a preceptorship, just like anyone else new to the unit. I worried about that too when I started (as a new grad), but then again I don't think I ever want to do anything else anyway!

Keep in mind that saying that you have no background in NICU or training, etc means nothing, really. There's NO WHERE for you to get any experience EXCEPT in a NICU. So we're very welcoming to new grads.

If it's your passion and you have a position... TAKE IT and don't wonder any longer!!!

and btw... I'm just dying to know where you were offered the position... can you PM me and tell me please?

:)

mischievium · Sep 2, 2004

I too am a new grad considering going into NICU nursing-- but I definitely plan to go back adults (L&D specifically) at some point. I just spoke to a nurse recruiter today and asked her if there would be a problem for me to switch from NICU to L&D at some point down the road and she said she it would not be a problem (and she does nurse recruiting for a very large university hospital in northern CA).

Hope that helps!:)

-m.

nekhismom · Sep 2, 2004

As long as you keep an open mind and learn, learn, learn, then you will be fine. Like others said, there's really nowhere else to learn NICU but NICU. Maybe intermediate care nursery would help, but when you start taking vented and unstable NICU pts, it's a new ballgame all over again. Just soak up your orientation, and if at the end of your 9 weeks you feel like you are not ready, SPEAK UP and ask for more time! MOst units would much rather give you a few more weeks orientation then leave you on your own feeling unsure of yourself. BUt keep in mind, that in NICU there will always be another nurse with you, so if you are unsure, you will have someone else to consult. Even experienced NICU nurses often ask other NICU nurses for their opinions on things. The truth is, you won't be completely comfortable for at least a year, maybe more. But you will never be alone, either! Good luck!

bobbiesal · Sep 3, 2004

My first job as a nurse was in the NICU...I was working as a float student NA & knew every department I DIDN'T want to work for...

I worked NICU for 3 years until I had to switch to PICU. After working in the PICU, I couldn't ever work NICU again because of the ethical /moral dilemmas I constantly faced. As an NICU nurse, I sent babies home. As a PICU nurse, I got to see what 'home' looked like for many NICU grads...

Don't get me wrong, I think it's important work, and I admire the nurses who work there, and avidly support the advances that have been made in the past 18 years, however, I cannot condone many of the things that occur there because of parents who choose in vitro & decide to keep ALL the fetuses, or the overaggressive residents who attempt to save babies with apgars of 0 - 0 - 1 - 2. (that would be 1 at ten min. and 2 at twenty min.). I'm not being cynical, I'm being realistic.

If you love critical care, however, and love babies...it's a great place. Just be prepared to see some things that may make you question what medical advances are really serving.

natasha700 · Sep 5, 2004

You will do fine. I did very well. I hate med surg I refuse to do it! I only recommend it if you are ify with your skills but for the most part go for it. I have been doing it for 4 1/2 years and have not looked back.