Best Pre NICU experience

[NGYSUN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Hello,

I was wondering if any one knew the best experience to have prior to entering the "babies world". My facility doesn't have NICU but I'm just there to accumulate experience. I started off at ER and med surg.. But I know for sure that I may end up a NICU nurse. We do have L&D and also a nursery. Do you think it's better to cross train to nursery and or L&D while I seek for NICU positions in neighboring facilities? And what's the pros and cons of NICU ?

Any help will be appreciated.. Thanks...

Ngysun...

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

One of our NICU experts should be by shortly to offer advice.

[angrykitten]

Nursery, L&D, or mother-baby are definitely great ways to get experience if you can't get into the NICU now. I think most NICUs would rather have someone experienced in assessing infants than med-surg type experience. You could also look at special care nurseries, which are a step down from NICUs. However, if you just started a job somewhere else, you should stick it out for awhile. You'll still be learning and developing your skills and you will be more likely to get the next job if it's been at least a year in your current job.

[NICUnurse21]

I did my nursing school capstone in mother-baby, and when I accepted my first NICU position I couldn't possibly see how mother-baby could help me much with NICU because mother-baby never sees sick kids. However, I was so thankful from day one in the NICU for my experience on MB because it taught me so much about assessing babies! I got a good picture of what a healthy heart sounds like, what healthy lungs sound like, what normal color is, how to assess fontanelles and sutures, etc. Once you get a good idea of what's "normal" it's easier to determine what is abnormal. Since your facility has a nursery, I think that would provide an awesome pre-NICU experience for the reasons just mentioned.