Prospective nursing student needs questions answered!

[lalaja47]

Hello! I am a student who is currently taking pre-reqs for nursing school and am really interested in 2 different specialties of nursing: neonatal and public health. Lately I have been doing research on both specialties to figure out which one is right for me or to see if it is possible to do both (neonatal nurse working in the community). I have a BA in Child Development and experience with infants in childcare, which lead me to an interest in helping high-risk infants. I plan to do some shadowing soon but in the meantime would like to get some perspectives in this forum from experienced neonatal nurses by asking these questions: (I live in the SF Bay area so reading some advice from nurses around the area who have some knowledge on the nursing job market in this location or requirements in CA would be very helpful)

What do you enjoy about being a neonatal nurse?

What are some of the cons that you deal with?

After getting your BSN and RN, are there any additional requirements you must do before working as a level II-III neonatal nurse? What was your educational/experience path like before you were hired to work as a neonatal nurse?

Will having an MSN make me more marketable?

Have neonatal nurses been in high demand?

What is your work schedule like?

I also want to know if anyone knows of any hospitals/health centers in the bay area that would possibly allow me to shadow for a day?

Thanks so much in advance for those who reply! :)

[neonatal_nurse]

This job is hard work, hard work and entails lots of sacrifices. Not to mention discipline, having a tough stomach and the ability to take everything all in. If you ask yourself if you can stay at home and read a book rather than go out with friends and miss birthdays for quite sometime during your studies then you're off to a good start. If not, this field is not for you. The "allure" of nursing has always been there especially now with the tough economy, but the reality is that few make it out and even fewer become a success in this job. Before you count the dollars you're gonna possibly make, ask yourself if the journey of getting there is even worth it. Because so many have tried and we're just defeated by the sheer toughness of it all. Just my 2 cents.