Do you find when people find out what you do they say things like "How can you do that?" or "I could never work in the NICU it would be too sad."
I'm a nursing student, leaning towards NICU, and when we inevitably get into discussion about "what we want to be when we grow up" and I say NICU, I hear varied comments, some of which I don't know exactly how to respond to. I get the vibe that some folks think if you desire a career with neonates who might not survive, that you must be cold, callus, unfeeling or all three, otherwise you wouldn't expose yourself to this possible pain. Of course we know it's just the opposite, but....
Do you hear this? Do you just take it as a compliment? How do you respond?