Basic roles of a nurse in the NICU

I suggest you do a job shadow and see exactly what we do day to day. Telling you what the job entails is nothing like seeing it and doing it in person. Good luck!

Here is a basic overview of what I do in the Level II portion of my NICU everyday:

First, I get report from the off going nurse. When she/he is done, I go through my medications and make sure I know all the correct med administration times. Then, I get started on my care. In our unit we take vital signs every 4 hours. I start on my first baby, getting HR, respirations, blood pressure, abdominal girth, etc. I do a full head to toe assessment of the baby, noting any changes I may need to bring up to the doctor or practitioners. I change his/her diaper, change his/her clothes and bedding and feed him or her. If he has any medications due at this time, I administer them. I sit down and feed them. I do this for all of my babies in the morning. As the day goes on, I relate information to the practitioners/docs about what needs to/should be done for the babies. Parents come in and call, and I attend to them as if they were patients as well. I answer any questions they may have and encourage interaction with their babies by encouraging breast feeding, and by having them do diaper changes, etc.

At a very basic level, my responsibilities are assessing the babies for any changes, administering meds, and feeding them. There is a lot more that comes with the job but those are just the foundations of being a NICU nurse.

Basic role: I take care of sick babies