Comparing new job with the old one...help!

[MA Nurse]

Hi. I quit my job at a Children's hospital in the NICU to go to a "non" Children's hospital NICU. I know I could never go back to my old work...long list of reasons...but I can't help almost constantly comparing the care of the new place to the old. I was at the old place for 16 years...so it was a hard decision to make. I'm not saying the new place gives bad care, it's just different.

Does anyone have a similar experience like this, or do you have any friendly advice to give me so I can start to feel more comfortable at my new job? ie: knowing there isn't an ECMO machine down the hall just in case??

This is all been hard for me lately because I lost a pt. to severe mec. asp. recently...so I'm thinking about all of the "What if's"...apparently she didn't need ECMO...that was just in the back of my head...this death was just such a shock to me...and others as well.

Thanks for listening...any ideas would be great...I've thought about going back to a different children's hospital...but the commute would be about twice as along...etc.

[danissa, LPN, LVN]

If they seemed pushy I have to laugh because let's face it- that is the "nicu personality" isn't it? Have you ever seen a passive nicu nurse or therapist??

:roll :roll NEVER!!! as a "NICU Personality!", you can't afford to be passive, these babies NEED the assertiveness we have!

[AbigailRN]

Wow, hmmmm.... I came to my unit as a new grad, I'm a guy, I get involved in committees, offer to help with policy development, orient/precept, do charge, etc....Aside from the brown-nosing, and arrogance, this guy could be me!! Especially if you are in SC! (Gamecocks fan) I know this is a departure from the OP, but don't fault someone for trying to excel in his specialty. maybe that's not his motive, but don't make it sound like only oblivious "newbie" nurses try to get involved and make a difference in their unit, and do it for the wrong reasons.....Neonatology has changed a lot in the last 10 years... soon it'll be a level playing field...

I didn't get the impression gamcock was trying to doubt anyones motives. However, your previous post regarding your co-worker sounded like YOU were doubting hers. I don't think this board is intended to have insults but rather support one another. Let's face it....people do change jobs and just like we all do-we tend to want to stay with what is comfortable. I love it when I see new people get involved and spread those leadership wings. I also think that new nurses can learn alot from their senior nurses (and vice versa) but it is not a competition. I didn't exactly understand the "soon it will be a level playing field" thing??? Does this poster think experienced nurses aren't aware of the changes in their field and who are they competing against in this field???

[SteveNNP, MSN, NP]

I wasn't being hostile or trying to "flame" gamecock.... I acknowledged that person's years of experience, and said that while she has much experience, she has effectively turned off and alienated every person in our unit. I'm serious. Don't get me wrong... she knows a lot about NICU, but has managed to insult just about every RT, RN and MD at one point or another by "smacking" them in the face with her book of "Children's Hospital" knowledge. My statement about level playing field was in reference to the quickly-changing nature of the NICU field. While a lot of experience and knowlege come with years of practice, a lot of what NICU nurses did 25 years ago isn't done anymore, especially with the development of new technology, developmental interventions, meds, etc. We will ALL have to adapt constantly to our field, and not hold it against others who are highly motivated toward learning the new things in order to stay ahead.

Again, not trying to flame, or cause upset......my male --> female communication barrier must have kicked in.

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

I agree that things are changing really fast, lots of new things going on now that weren't going on in the past. But experience is something that can never be replaced with anything else.

Regardless of how many new things are going about now and how we're doing things they didn't do years ago, experience counts for a lot ....... an experienced NICU nurse knows a hell of a lot more of what can go wrong. I see a lot of them pick out things that I NEVER would have picked up on, they see it as a red-flag because of past experiences. I don't have that yet and I won't have it until I have more experiences under my belt. And you can't read that stuff in books. So it'll never be a level playing field for a new grad and an experienced nurse. JMO on that.