Nurse with 10 years adult experience starting NICU ..... help!!!!

[notsosupernurse]

I always wanted to work in the NICU. Well, the opportunity has presented itself but I am so scared. I was a premie myself and wanted to work in this area out of school and was never able to get in. The hospital I am going to start at orients using a hands on approach. There will be less classroom, but individual certification classes, online courses etc, accompanying hands on throughout the training. So exited, I accepted in a heartbeat. Please help me. Are there any tips or suggestions to help me make the transition smoother and less painful?

Thanks in advance...

Excited and Shaking in my boots at the same time.

[MzJimenez]

What kind of things are you talking about? A few weeks in we expect our newbies to be able to follow our daily routine and not be horribly behind. We have a pretty regimented orientation that last 12 weeks. We also have reading assignments and classes. Do you have good reference books? Also, make yourself a "cheat" notebook to put commonly used policy/procedures in and notes to yourself. Also use a good work flow sheet, separate your patients into individual pieces of paper and put down the side every hour you will be there and then fill in what you need to do every hour and tick it off. And sometimes you have to put yourself out there and talk to people, strike up conversation at lunch or break. Do you have any conferences or meetings with your CNS or manager during your orientation? We meet with both of them weekly and then the orienter meets with them privately. If there are issues our CNS will bring it up us and make a switch of preceptors if needed. None of us get offended as not everyone meshes with each other. And don't be hard on yourself, take a step back and look at the big picture.

I'm curious to know, what reference books do you recommend? I am trying really hard to get into a NICU here and so far none of the units want to take a "New to service" RN. I want to explore any options I possibly can, even if that includes reading books BEFORE I actually land a job.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

Merstein and Gardner are one of the best ones. Core Curriculum is okay also .