Any advice for a prospective NICU nurse?

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Hello all, I am new to this site but I thought I would seek out some advice since what I'm doing has not worked :( I have always wanted to be a NICU nurse since my clinical rotation in school however I took the first job offered after gaining my RN which was in a nursing home. I have been there for over 2 years now, since I am graduating with my BSN next month I've been applying to every hospital from Cleveland to Akron (Ohio) for NICU positions with no success. I feel like I'm kind of pigeon holed into long term care now that I have worked there for so long. I even took the NRP certification course to add to my resume in hopes that it would indicate to employers that I am serious and passionate about becoming a NICU nurse. Does anyone have any advice on how to get my foot in the door or what I could do differently/additionally? I feel like I'm caught in a catch 22 since I have no NICU or peds experience! Any thoughts are welcome & thanks in advance :)

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Specializes in L&D.

You could target a local hopsital with a good NICU and apply for any position there. Even med-surg PRN. Then you'd have access to internal job postings and could even go to the NICU manager in person to introduce yourself.

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Specializes in L&D, OBED, NICU, Lactation.

One of the problems is that when positions open for NICU, they don't tend to last very long. I've found people don't leave the NICU all that often either. Something key for you is to actually meet people (e.g. NICU/nursery managers) so you can know someone. The previous poster was completely correct in stating that any med/surg foot in the door can help with internal postings. I've also Fedex'd my resume direct to a manager. Online application systems are terrible. They are not the way to get a job. You really need to know someone or meet them somehow. If I really need a disclaimer about "your mileage may vary...SOME people got the job through the online system...blah blah" then consider it here! :-P

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My first job was in a nursing home and I found it hard getting into a hospital, I went to a hospice and then managed to get hospital and have just got a position on nicu however I'm in the UK! But I feel ur pain! In the UK it's as if the nhs doesn't acknowledge a background in nursing homes!

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Thanks for the input everyone, I just got a phone interview for Tuesday with the Cleveland Clinic, I'm not sure if they hire directly into the NICU or not but I'm definitely going to take what I can get and get my foot in the door.. That's if I get a second interview, fingers crossed :)

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Specializes in L&D, OBED, NICU, Lactation.

Job Info

That is a new grad posting for Cleveland Clinic that includes NICU as one of the units.

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That's the link I applied through, I'm waiting for them to say "hey wait a minute your not technically a new grad" lol Thank you though!

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Specializes in L&D, OBED, NICU, Lactation.

I didn't read all the way down. They are pretty explicit in what they consider new grad RN. It makes it tough because hospital aren't always willing to train early career specialty switchers which is actually the easiest of all the groups to train. People who are 2-5 years in have fewer bad habits to get rid of and aren't as 'set in their ways' as the more experienced among us. We have also made that transition from student to professional. Best of luck to you!

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I know it's really a bummer! I thought it would be easier having some experience but I'm finding that's not the case, my only savior here is that when I tried to apply straight for the "nicu" posting it said to apply through the new grad link if you don't have "one year of acute care hospital experience" so that's why I went ahead and applied there.. We shall see!

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Specializes in NICU.

Did you accept a job at the Cleveland Clinic? I am curious if you got a NICU job!

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