Any new grads hired in NICU?

[LyndseyER]

HI I was wondering if there are any new grads out there who were hired straight to NICU and if so how is it and was it overwhelming???? any advice would help.:bowingpur

[Honeychild]

I graduated June '07 and hired straight into our level III unit. I had 12 weeks orientation before I was on my own. And even when I was to my own shift with my own assignment, the teamwork in my unit is incredible and I have never felt "alone." Now that I have approx. 8 months behind me, I feel a little more comfortable, but I still ask for lots of help when I need it, especially when explaning a disease process to a parent. What I have found that helps a lot is to listen in on rounds with residents, especially with an attending that likes to "teach" and to listen in when doctors speak with the families about vents, upcoming surgeries, etc. Good luck to you!

[hikernurse]

I will list the downs first so I can end on a happy note. I wrote an article about my first year of nursing in the article section, it's kind of long though.

Downs:

*Steep learning curve

*first emergency off of orientation

*coming to terms with the huge amount of responsibility this job entails

*learning to cope with horrible outcomes

*babies self extubating

*being a confident adult in all aspects of life except work, hard to explain, but it is such an odd feeling while you are waiting to get enough experience

*first mistakes

*dreading work

Ups

*watching a tiny micro preemie get better and go home and know that you had a hand in it

*having enough experience to catch subtleties

*first time you had a gut feeling that something wasn't right and you were right

*helping people newer than you

*realizing how far you have come without noticing it

*going from dreading your job to loving it

*snuggling with babies

WeeBaby pretty much covers it :). I would add that even when the babies don't make it home, at least you know they had good, loving care while they were alive.

I went to work in a Level III+ (we really need to add a Level IV, don't we?) right after graduation. I think it's been really tough. Would I do it again? Yes.

But still, there are an awful lot of days I dread going to work wondering what I'll do wrong.

[NICU_babyRN, BSN, RN]

I was hired in a level III NICU right out of school but that was after a 10 week internship in a different level III NICU and an ER internship for 4 months both in which I did direct patient care. both internships were while I was still in school.

It can be overwhelming and there is A LOT to learn but I still love my job.

It's important to find the right NICU where you will have orientation, classes and a supportive preceptor. You also want to make sure you have the high-paced, time-oriented, quick thinker mindset.