Should NICU be the place

[Ayvah, RN]

that I move to next? I started my nursing career at a stepdown unit with high acuity and poor nurse : patient ratios. I feared for my nursing license and the safety of the patients on that unit. Seeing experienced nurses crying was common, and floating staff would say that the unit was the worst they have ever been on. The place had a very negative affect on my mental and physical health, (completing a shift in less than 14 hours was uncommon). I since relocated and am thoroughly burnt out on floor nursing due to this bad experience. However, I have always felt that the hospital is my home and would like to return there in a better environment. I loved the work but hated the working conditions.

I am reading so many good things about NICU nursing. I know that no place will be utopia, but is level II/level III NICU the place to be? Or am I just naive in thinking that NICU will be so much different than floor nursing was?

[MA Nurse]

In my experience, NICU or PICU is so much better than any floor nursing. Here's why I think that: In PICU we only get 1 or 2 pts. They are really sick, of course, but you can see them at all times! One reason why I didn't like the floors was because you can't see your pt.s unless you walk into the room! It is easier in critical care to ask another nurse for help, everyone is right there in close proximity.

In NICU, the pt.s are small, so you won't break your back. In our NICU we can have up to 3 pt.s, sometimes that's busy, but not as busy as floor nursing.

Just remember you have to deal with a lot of parents, which can be stressful while you are caring for their sick baby and they are so worried about everything. Yes, NICU nursing is alot different than the floor, it's still busy, but in a more manageable way...IMO.

And, last but not least, baby bottoms are a lot smaller and easier to deal with!!