Specialties NICU
Published Oct 16, 2013
Jinx322
41 Posts
I'm in my final semester of nursing school and its preceptorship time. I've had my heart set on peds but due to a few issues with the site I picked my instructor place my on a NICU floor. Not what I was expecting. During my maternity rotation I shadowed a nurse 3 times on the same NICU floor that I am placed on and didn't have the best experience. The nurses didn't want me to touch anything or anyone (understandably so) but I wanted this to be hands on. I'll make the most of it, learn from it, and carry on; its only 10 shifts anyway.
What should I expect to see during a 12-hour shift? Are there any things I should start looking into now? Any meds/labs that i'll see all the time? HELP!!
Any insight into the NICU world would be much appreciated. :)
RainDreamer, BSN, RN
3,571 Posts
You sound just like me! NICU was the least of my choices, and yet I got stuck with it for my preceptorship. Here I am now though ..... over 8 years of being a NICU nurse!
Hmm, I think I wrote a journal about my preceptorship experiences. Let me see if I can find it.
You'll do fine! :)
That was wild to go back and read, lol. Not sure if it will help you .... it's pretty wordy, but it was my experience.
https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/my-preceptorship-experience-101395.html
That was wild to go back and read lol. Not sure if it will help you .... it's pretty wordy, but it was my experience. https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/my-preceptorship-experience-101395.html
Thank you. My first day is Monday the 28th. I met my preceptor and she seems really nice. I'll definitely make the most out of each day and look forward to learning new things.
staycalm
22 Posts
I hope you had a great first day. In my unit, our "capstone" students as we call them, are treated completely different than students in regular clinical rotation. I do think it will all depend on your preceptor, so that's great she seems nice! Our capstone students are treated more like a new-hire (vs I hope you are able to learn as much as you can in 2-3 shifts as a 3rd level student). So, for capstones initially it's watch & learn, but then soon it it's hands-on with preceptor at your side, then emerging independence.
My love in nursing school was OB. I became a tech (cna) in my NICU by default my last year of nursing school. I was NOT in love, I for sure thought "I'd NEVER work as a nurse in the unit when I graduate". Something changed in my heart prior to graduation, and I'm 13+years now into a very rewarding RN experience. Keep an open mind! You never know!!!! :)