Any ICU turned NICU nurses?

erinhrn · Apr 6, 2014

I worked with adults for 3 years before coming to NICU (2 years in ICU and 1 year in ER). One thing I was told was to "forget everything I knew about adults", but I did not find that to be necessary. I feel like my adult critical care knowledge helped immensely. You do have to realize that babies are not just little adults and be prepared to learn a different way of doing things though. But a lot of your basic knowledge still can apply and of course time management, prioritization, and critical thinking skills are essential in the NICU.

There was another nurse that started in the NICU at the same time I did with 3 years of mother/baby experience. Even though she knew healthy babies already, I still oriented quicker than her and felt somewhat comfortable a lot faster. I believe that this was mostly due to my critical care background.

Now I love NICU and can't imagine going back to adults!

TigerGalLE, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2014

Hey there. I was in adult ICU for 4 years and just stared in level 2 NICU. I will get a 12 wk orientation. I am about halfway though orientation now. I agree about the time management and prioritization skills flowing over. I am definitely out of my comfort zone in NICU. I am learning a lot. My hardest thing so far is sticking babies. I was really good with adults but I'm sucking. Totally bummed. Feel free to PM me

HazelLPN, LPN · Apr 7, 2014

I had been an adult ICU/MICU nurse for 30 some years before I started doing PICU and then later NICU. What I liked best about NICU was that its easy on your body. I could turn the babies using just my arms and I wouldn't be sore or hurt after a shift. You don't see many adult ICU nurses working into their 50s or 60s...because its just too physically demanding...even with help and technology...its hard. There were many more older nurses doing PICU and NICU and could stay with it because of the smaller patients means less wear and tear. Of course, there were many challenges to get used to. As a poster mentioned above, starting an IV on a micropremie is pretty intimidating...and I had to retrain myself to do it with the help of veteran nurses.