I am a BSN student from the Bay Area planning to relocate to Denver, CO once I graduate in May. Although I put the NICU as my only senior preceptorship choice, my school was not able to find a placement for me and put me to med-surg. I am absolutely devastated, and I just cannot stop thinking about how my career goals are falling apart.
My plan is to apply to new grad NICU programs in Denver Metro, but now I am at such disadvantage.
Do you think my med-surg preceptorship will make it much harder to land a NICU job (or get into the program)? Maybe some of you ladies and gents also know how hard it is to get a job in Denver in general?
Devastated? Please define this word in regards to your feelings. God forbit something seriously terrible happen in your life. Its a minor inconvenience and for your benefit I would move on. Not everybody's dreams play out day one of work.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Thank you so much everyone for your words. I really appreciate your advice. I am not the only person who didn't get their placement. Maybe as a student I am just too naive to expect things will happen the way I planned them. It is not about me being picky, not at all! It is about having true interest in the NICU field that I just couldn't wait to expand during my preceptorship.
If you put only NICU down as a choice for your preceptorship, you ARE being picky. Didn't your professors advise you that NICU is tough to get? So you're interested in NICU -- lots of people are. Med/Surg is still a great place to learn. Adjust your attitude and make the most of your experience.
I'll go against the trend and say that OP is allowed to feel devastated to not have gotten the NICU preceptorship. After all, it's what she really wanted to do and she is entitled to feel that hurt over not getting it.
That being said, OP was also very foolish to put in a suicide bid for it.
Not putting down any other choices doesn't guarantee that you'll get the sole choice you asked for. It doesn't work like that at all. All it means is that if you don't get that sole choice, you've pretty much agreed to anything else that they could find you, which is the med-surg. You could have put down some related alternative choices: pediatrics, L&D/post-partum, PICU. But you took a chance and you lost. You can feel devastated about losing, sure...but you pretty much put yourself in that position.
Since you're going to a med-surg preceptorship, take advantage of everything you can learn from it, because what you learn in med-surg will come in very handy in your nursing career no matter what specialty you go into. And while not having a NICU preceptorship may put you at a disadvantage for new grad residencies, it doesn't shut you out entirely.
And say you don't start your nursing career in the NICU. Not the end of the world. A lot of nurses don't start their nursing careers in their dream specialty. Look at PrincessBride above: she didn't start in NICU but went through a lot to get there. But she made it there. Many start with whatever they can get into for that first nursing job and work their way over to specialty they want to be...and they're all the better for it because they're bringing a diverse range of experience with them.
So yes, you can feel devastated. But IMO, don't wallow in it. Mourn for a day, then pick yourself up and make the best of what you've been given. Because that is how life is in nursing...and if you don't learn how to adjust and play the cards you get dealt, you're going to find yourself in a world of disappointment.
Preceptorship placement doesn't matter in the grand scheme of everything, unless you are trying to get hired in the specific unit you are doing your preceptorship in. I precepted in a Medical ICU and got hired in Oncology...they didn't care that I was at a MICU during school, they only cared that I was proficient, confident, and a team player. If you knock your M/S preceptorship out of the park and get a great evaluation, it will help to open doors in any unit type you desire, specifically NICU in your case. I had classmates that precepted in ERs and got NICU new grad jobs in Washington D.C., Chicago, and Oregon.
Wow, thanks again for such thorough and realistic responses! I truly appreciate each one of them.
Firstly, I sure feel less disappointed about my placement than 3 days ago. English is not my first language, so yeah, maybe the word "devastated" was a bit too much. Secondly, I spoke to my ICU and L/D clinical instructors today, who offered to give me amazing letters of recommendations and to be my references. I went ahead and filled out all the paperwork for my med-surg placement, and I am ready to rock it! You are right, it is my opportunity, and not a difficulty! I will learn as much as I can, and I will make sure to make it a positive experience both for me, and my preceptor. Thanks for inspiring students like myself!
"Didn't your professors advise you that NICU is tough to get? So you're interested in NICU -- lots of people are."
Unfortunately they didn't. We were told that the previous cohort got 9 slots, and L/D and NICU are usually not in scarce. We only got 4 slots. The preceptorship is 192 hours.
Wow, thanks again for such thorough and realistic responses! I truly appreciate each one of them.
Firstly, I sure feel less disappointed about my placement than 3 days ago. English is not my first language, so yeah, maybe the word "devastated" was a bit too much. Secondly, I spoke to my ICU and L/D clinical instructors today, who offered to give me amazing letters of recommendations and to be my references. I went ahead and filled out all the paperwork for my med-surg placement, and I am ready to rock it! You are right, it is my opportunity, and not a difficulty! I will learn as much as I can, and I will make sure to make it a positive experience both for me, and my preceptor. Thanks for inspiring students like myself!
Good for you!! I greatly admire your openness to hearing the feedback and willingness to use it to grow (rather than be defensive and angry), and secondly I admire your passion for nursing! The very best of luck to you....
"Didn't your professors advise you that NICU is tough to get? So you're interested in NICU -- lots of people are."
Unfortunately they didn't. We were told that the previous cohort got 9 slots, and L/D and NICU are usually not in scarce. We only got 4 slots. The preceptorship is 192 hours.
Ok, well now you know. Just FYI, though, it's going to be even more difficult to get that kind of position as a new grad, so prepare yourself for a couple of years in med-surg while you build skill and confidence.
I think you are overreacting. I had a senior preceptorship in a PCU (Progressive Care Unit) and I was able to land a new grad position in the NICU. You have to sell yourself. Don't be discouraged.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
Thank you so much everyone for your words. I really appreciate your advice. I am not the only person who didn't get their placement. Maybe as a student I am just too naive to expect things will happen the way I planned them. It is not about me being picky, not at all! It is about having true interest in the NICU field that I just couldn't wait to expand during my preceptorship.
Nursing doesnt happen the way we plan it. I come into work thinking things are going to be a certain way, Mrs A in bed 1 throws a PE and is for resus and needs to go to ED for treatment. Mr S in bed five has screamed four the last five hours, he is not for resus and despite huge amounts of pain relief and anxiolytics he continues to scream.
When in my final year as a student didn't get the final placment I wanted either so decided that buggar it I was going to make the best of it and had a fabulous experience that gave me alot of skills I could take forward into my new grad year as a district nurse. The skills you learn in med surg will provide a very solid basis on which to build the foundation of your new grad year where ever that is.
Wow, thanks again for such thorough and realistic responses! I truly appreciate each one of them.
Firstly, I sure feel less disappointed about my placement than 3 days ago. English is not my first language, so yeah, maybe the word "devastated" was a bit too much. Secondly, I spoke to my ICU and L/D clinical instructors today, who offered to give me amazing letters of recommendations and to be my references. I went ahead and filled out all the paperwork for my med-surg placement, and I am ready to rock it! You are right, it is my opportunity, and not a difficulty! I will learn as much as I can, and I will make sure to make it a positive experience both for me, and my preceptor. Thanks for inspiring students like myself!
That's great about the letters of recommendation!! Your newly positive attitude will be a huge asset too.
I did my practicum on a med-tele unit, and I will say it was very helpful when it came time to take the NCLEX.
Three years ago I had the amazing opportunity to precept in a small level III NICU. Unfortunately that unit required two years of NICU experience to work there (they were not set up to orient someone who had never worked NICU--was a very small unit). I couldn't find a new grad position (though I knew the limits of where I was willing to move geographically as I still wanted to be reasonably close to family) and accepted a position I thought would be a great second choice, as a newborn nursery nurse. That position was...not what I expected. I still wonder sometimes if I made the right choice taking that job, rather than the med-surg telemetry offer I had at another hospital.
I moved a few months ago and am about to start a new position in mother-baby. I'm excited about it and hopeful that it will segue into a NICU position...but it may not. Be prepared, especially if you live in an area with lots of nursing schools, to not get your first choice position, or even second or third. You may not get into a new grad position at all, though there are many hospitals without formal new grad positions that are still willing to train them properly. You may have to work in an area that isn't even related for a while before you can get a job in a NICU. And there is always the possibility that it will never happen (of course, we hope not but life doesn't always cooperate with our plans!).
Go into your preceptorship ready to learn and rock it. Who knows, it could turn into a job for you! Or at least some stellar references. Keep an open mind and willing attitude and you'll go far.
That being said, OP was also very foolish to put in a suicide bid for it.
I haven't heard that term since my sorority days in undergrad! Gave me a good chuckle as it's so appropriate.
Aromatic
352 Posts
Devastated? Please define this word in regards to your feelings. God forbit something seriously terrible happen in your life. Its a minor inconvenience and for your benefit I would move on. Not everybody's dreams play out day one of work.