Do you know of employers willing to cross-train Med/Surg RNs to work in the NICU?

[Info(RN)matics]

Do you know of employers willing to cross train Med/Surg nurses into the NICU, Newborn Nursery, Critical Care Areas, or other areas of specialization? After a fruitless search lasting almost a year, I'm beginning to get disappointed.

Please share helpful information?

[Patricia B, RN]

Lea,

I work in an NICU that has cross trained many med-surg nurses over to NICU. I suppose your challenges are related to the current job market @ large, as we only hired about 3 nurses this orientation cycle.

Good Luck!

:)

[Info(RN)matics]

I understand, but it is disappointing nonetheless. Which state is your hospital located in?

Lea,

I work in an NICU that has cross trained many med-surg nurses over to NICU. I suppose your challenges are related to the current job market @ large, as we only hired about 3 nurses this orientation cycle.

Good Luck!

:)

[babennp]

I don't recommend cross training to NICU. I suggest an internship. It is easy to perform tasks but difficult to identify neonatal decompensation and when intervention is necessary. Especially if you don't under stand the physiology/pathophysiology of neonatal disease processes.

[Info(RN)matics]

An internship would be even better. I have tried, but I fall into the gray area where I'm not eligible to participate in internships because I am not really a 'new graduate' any longer

I don't recommend cross training to NICU. I suggest an internship. It is easy to perform tasks but difficult to identify neonatal decompensation and when intervention is necessary. Especially if you don't under stand the physiology/pathophysiology of neonatal disease processes.

[littleneoRN]

I think people might be speaking different languages here. I generally think of cross training as staying in your current unit but asking for brief training to also work a few shifts in another area. I think the OP might mean they want a job in NICU and wants an employer who will train them. These are pretty different! I agree that your frustration is largely related to the economy. You don't necessarily need a new grad internship, but any NICU worth it's salt would orient you like a new grad. (No offense, but you want as much education and orientation as possible). Lots of NICUs will hire nurses with med/surg experience.

[prmenrs, RN]

NICU and med-surg might as well be on 2 separate planets for all they have in common. Are you trying to go to NICU as a career move? I do not recommend you do both.

I would make my career goals as crystal clear as possible when talking to personnel or the NICU nurse managers. If you want to make NICU your home, you don't want to "cross-train", imo.

[Patricia B, RN]

I understand, but it is disappointing nonetheless. Which state is your hospital located in?

I work in California. Good points made about cross-training versus orienting. I assumed you meant orienting (as in to transition over to NICU nursing). If you meant as in an attempt to continue working in both arenas, your skill level would indeed reflect that, and perhaps a float pool option might be your best choice.

[Info(RN)matics]

I want to switch to the NICU for good. Can you pass on my resume to your nurse manager/hiring manager?

[csangelic]

To Patricia B, RN: Which hospital do you work for? I am also an adult care nurse looking to change to NICU (permanently). I've always wanted to work in the NICU, but had to accept what was available when I graduated nursing school. I have been calling/visiting hospitals in my area (Los Angeles) trying to find one that would train me. My own hospital, Kaiser, won't train me in NICU. Its so frustrating!

[agiboma, BSN, MSN, NP]

As the mother of a 25 weeker and an RN degree graduate i dont think its a good idea to work both med surg and NICU. They are as different as night and day. I was so unaware of the complexity of NICU until i had my son and was thrown into the NICU world by force. I can't really describe the experience except to say that to truly understand NICU an internship would definitely be the best route. In our NICU nurses where trained for 4 months before they went out on their own so its a long process that deserves a lot of though before you make such a career move.

Good Luck.