Burn Technician vs Nursing Assistant in Mother Baby Unit

[dreamerachiever, BSN, RN]

I'm a certified nursing assistant, and I'm looking to gain some experience in the field before starting nursing school in the fall. What unit do you think would give my the most experience: Burn Unit or Mother Baby. The burn unit participates in and inpatient and outpatient care, and consists of and adult and pediatric unit. The Mother Baby is a postpartum unit in which mother and baby reside after birth. I really do love babies, but I know in order to become a good nurse, I need to be well rounded.

Thanks in advance

[111th, ADN, LPN]

Is there a specific specialty you're hoping to work in once you have graduated nursing school? Sometimes if the unit manager likes you, you are able to be hired on as an RN once you graduate.

If it's being well-rounded that you're hoping for... Med/surg or tele would be a better route, in my opinion. However, any CNA experience is better than none.

Best of luck!

[dreamerachiever, BSN, RN]

Thank you! I've always wanted to be a NICU nurse, but my long term goal is to become a Nurse Anesthetist, and school I'm interested in requires experience in ICU's other than NICU.

[mindofmidwifery, ADN]

As a CNA, the burn unit would benefit you more so than mother/infant. I have talked to nurses that used to be PCAs on the mother infant floor and they said it was pretty breezy, not too much excitement or skill usage. However, for your goals I would look into the NICU, ICU or ER if possible. You have to start somewhere though. Good luck with your decision!

[dreamerachiever, BSN, RN]

Thanks for the response. I wish our NICU's here hired techs

[cocoa_puff]

Thanks for the response. I wish our NICU's here hired techs

I think Mother/Baby would be a better stepping stone to NICU, especially if you work there as a CNA, and then as a nurse. As a nurse, you could transfer to NICU with some experience with healthy babies, and then learn to take care of the sick ones. If you still wanted to be a CRNA, you could later transfer to an adult ICU. However, I think a burn unit would probably give you more experience as a CNA than Mother/Baby. Good luck with whatever you decide!

[dreamerachiever, BSN, RN]

Thanks I've been thinking the same thing. Stuck between my heart and head. Heart is leading me to mother baby, but my head knows I can gain more experience in the burn unit lol.

[Julius Seizure]

I would say burn unit. You'll see some cool stuff and learn a lot. Not that you won't learn anything in mother baby, but burn unit will be more likely to teach you things like how to assist with procedures. If the ultimate goal is CRNA, that means you need ICU experience. Burn unit will be a better foot in the door than mother baby.

[2bNurseDR.T]

I'm a certified nursing assistant, and I'm looking to gain some experience in the field before starting nursing school in the fall. What unit do you think would give my the most experience: Burn Unit or Mother Baby. The burn unit participates in and inpatient and outpatient care, and consists of and adult and pediatric unit. The Mother Baby is a postpartum unit in which mother and baby reside after birth. I really do love babies, but I know in order to become a good nurse, I need to be well rounded.

Thanks in advance

I personally think that by working in the burn unit you would gain a lot more useful knowledge. You would see patients who are very critical and needing a lot of assistance. As far as the postpartum unit, you may not see as much action and there may not be as much to learn. I'm not familiar with postpartum units, but I have had a few friends work as techs there and they pretty much said the most they do is hold the babies and give them baths. Ultimately, it comes down to what kind of experience you'd like. I work in the SICU at a level 1 trauma center as a tech/care Partner and love it. I have learned so much working in the ICU, and it really has made nursing school a lot easier to grasp and understand because I can relate it to experience. Some of the things that techs are allowed to do on my unit include; phlebotomy (using a butterfly needle or VAMP if they have an arterial line), discontinue arterial lines (as long as they are not in the femoral artery), hypopharnygeal suction, mouth care for intubated patients, hook patients up to the ECG monitor, and a lot more. Of course, what you're allowed to do varies among hospitals and states, but typically if you work in a teaching hospital that's a level 1 trauma center you will get to do quite a bit as a tech. Good luck to you!

[kingvonnBSN2017, BSN]

I'm a student nurse in Mother Baby. I love it and I do a lot more than just giving baths.. I have learned a lot working here. My goal is to become a postpartum or NICU nurse and then eventually a nurse practitioner/midwife so this is the field for me.. if you are trying to become a CRNA, the burn unit may best suited for you.

[dreamerachiever, BSN, RN]

Thanks for the response!

[Scrubs_n_sirens, MSN, RN]

Is there a specific specialty you're hoping to work in once you have graduated nursing school? Sometimes if the unit manager likes you, you are able to be hired on as an RN once you graduate.

If it's being well-rounded that you're hoping for... Med/surg or tele would be a better route, in my opinion. However, any CNA experience is better than none.

Best of luck!

This. Exactly my thought process. Med surg or ICU > Maternal or Burns. Simply because of the sheer amount of different things you'll see.