A student looking to interview NICU nurse for highschool project

[Wichika]

Hi I'm Wichika. I'm a high school student researching neonatal nursing as a registered nurse for a career search project. I'm looking for a neonatal nurse (RN) to interview and was hoping to find one here. I'll have a series of questions down below that you guys can answer. I will also need proof that I interviewed you by you sending an email to my teacher and having you're business card if thats possible. Thank you for taking the time!

1. What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a neonatal nurse?

2. What inspired you in pursing this career?

3. What advice would you give to nursing students who are interested in specializing in neonatology?

4. What qualifications do you need? (both academically and personal traits)

5. What is a typical work day like?

6. How long have you been working as a neonatal nurse?

7. Were there any struggles and/or hardships that you went through when becoming a neonatal nurse?

8. What academic path did you take? (RN to NICU, CN to RN to NICU, etc.)

9. What mind set must you have in order to pursue this career?

10. How do you balance your work life and personal life?

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

Our normal standard response to these types of requests is to have you meet the RN in person to get a more interactive interview than a list of questions and answers. Since most hospitals are restricting visitors due to Covid-19, this may not be possible. So, I will answer the questions for this limited basis.

9 hours ago, Wichika said:

1. What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a neonatal nurse? Favorite: Being able to see a 500 gram (1 pound) baby that was born 16 weeks early grow into the size of a newborn and go home. Least favorite: having a baby that unexpectedly develops complications and passes away.

2. What inspired you in pursing this career? Infants are innocent patients. Adult patients may have made poor lifestyle choices that have effected their lives to cause them to be in the hospital. Infants have done nothing except to be born prematurely or born with congenital issues.

3. What advice would you give to nursing students who are interested in specializing in neonatology? It may be difficult to get a new grad position in NICU (it is possible, I did). You must be willing to work on a different unit for a year or two until being able to secure a NICU position.

4. What qualifications do you need? (both academically and personal traits) BSN from an accredited university and a love of babies.

5. What is a typical work day like? Depending on the acuity of my patients: assessments every 2-4 hours, feed, medications and interact with neonatologists, SLP, OT, RT on the plan of care for the patients.

6. How long have you been working as a neonatal nurse? 5 yrs

7. Were there any struggles and/or hardships that you went through when becoming a neonatal nurse? Very little is taught in nursing school about infants that need specialized care in a NICU.

8. What academic path did you take? (RN to NICU, CN to RN to NICU, etc.) BSN with a Senior Capstone placement in a Level IV NICU.

9. What mind set must you have in order to pursue this career? Infants are very good at compensating for issues up until they can't compensate, then they deteriorate rapidly. Your job is to notice subtle changes in their behavior, appearance, trends in their vitals that would indicate that the infant's condition is worsening.

10. How do you balance your work life and personal life? When I am at work, I focus on my job and personal problems are put aside. When I am at home, I focus on my personal life and don't concern myself with work until I am ready to go to work.

[Wichika]

Thank you NICU guy for taking time in your day to answer my questions. I appreciate it tremendously, especially since you guys are extremely busy. Is it possible that I can get a business card? It would also be great if you could email my teacher to confirm that I did this interview. Email: [email protected]

Again thank you!