Neonatal job in the UK

Specialties NICU

Published

Hi everyone,

I live in the UK and I'm a 3rd year student nurse and I'm almost qualified, I have applied for a staff nurse position on a neonatal unit, and if I'm lucky enough to get it I hope to continue on to do a post graduate qualification in neonatal nursing while working in this area, Ive always wanted to work in this area and actually applied to do my midwifery training before my nurse training, unfortunatly there were not enough places,

any advice would be appriciated

Specializes in NICU.

have you tried bradford?

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Manchester?? will look for job vacancys there are a couple of local hospitals with small NICU's, what would be the best way to contact them?, I know there are no vacancys advertised at the moment but there may be in the future... there is actually a NICU at Desbury hospital where I'm on placement at the moment, I'm on CCU, do you think they would let me go down as a student?

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Specializes in NICU.

don't you have a block towards the end of your course where you can choose where to work. the odd time that we have adult branch they come for a 6-8 week period

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yeah I'm on my elective ward now! we were told to pick an adult ward, i was told we couldnt have a child ward or neonatal as the child branch needed the placements, but I could possibly go on for a week or so if i asked??

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Would I Neonatal directly or go to my placement officer at uni??

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Specializes in NICU.

go to NICU first and speak to manager. if they say yes (ask for a note on headed paper) then go to placement officer in uni. how long have you got left of placement and course?

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11 weeks left of course!!! and its all on this placement (CCU) so I could definatly try to go onto NICU for a few weeks ;)

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I can normally go onto other areas for about a week without consulting the uni placement officer

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Specializes in NICU.

approach the manager and enjoy.

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Specializes in NICU.

if no luck. give me a shout

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Thanks Fozzybear! will let you know ;)

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Specializes in Neonatal nursing (paediatric trained).

Just go onto NHS Jobs and look for jobs with nicu, nnu, scbu in the title and description within whatever radius you're willing to travel within and apply away. The recommendation is that all nurses working on a neonatal unit should be child branch trained, however recruitment into neonates is really low at the moment and a lot of units will take adult branch NQs. We hired one about 3 months ago.

Prepare for a steep learning curve, as the adult branch nurse we took on is having a lot of difficulty in getting her head around it, I think. I really get the feeling she thought it was cuddling babies and not much more.

To show potential employers that this is the area you want to be in, you've got to prove it. Sign onto the nursing bank at local hospitals and specifically request to work in special care as a HCA. You can then mention that in your person specification and talk about it in interview. It'll show your dedication and that you're serious. They won't want to hire someone who can't be sure that neonates is for them.

Hope that helps!

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