The main reason I decided to change my major and become a RN is because of my passion of caring for babies. The NICU is the place I want to work in for the rest of my career.
I have volunteered in the following units[multiple times]:
PICU
NICU
Med-Surg
L&D/Nursery
Cardio/Neuro
Adult ICU
(I'm very active in a medical volunteering organization)
The only specialty I am BEYOND interested in is Neonatal, specifically acute care. There's no interest in me to work with adults nor older kids(general peds). Computer engineering was my previous major and I had a FULL scholarship but gave it all up for the babies after extensive research in the field as well as many others.
I start clinicals next semester (Jan-2017).
Did any of you guys know the specialty you wanted to go into before starting clinicals?
Sometimes it is a wonder any nurse gets to work with peds when you look at the numbers.
My hospital has a census page. You can see on one page the entire hospital census broken down by department. It tells you how many beds each unit has and how many are available.
In my university, level 1 hospital, the vast majority of inpatients are adults. There are 18 PICU beds and over 100 adult ICU beds when you combine numbers from surgical, medical, neuro and cardiac ICUs. There are a couple of peds floors and a NICU, but again, the number of nurses needed to staff these areas are so much fewer than adults.
Add in the fact that not every hospital, especially the smaller ones, admit pediatric patients at all.
The numbers point to the fact that getting hired for a hospital pediatric job is more difficult because there are fewer positions to hire for.
Sometimes it is a wonder any nurse gets to work with peds when you look at the numbers.
My hospital has a census page. You can see on one page the entire hospital census broken down by department. It tells you how many beds each unit has and how many are available.
In my university, level 1 hospital, the vast majority of inpatients are adults. There are 18 PICU beds and over 100 adult ICU beds when you combine numbers from surgical, medical, neuro and cardiac ICUs. There are a couple of peds floors and a NICU, but again, the number of nurses needed to staff these areas are so much fewer than adults.
Add in the fact that not every hospital, especially the smaller ones, admit pediatric patients at all.
The numbers point to the fact that getting hired for a hospital pediatric job is more difficult because there are fewer positions to hire for.
You're right about this. When I graduated in 1978, we had 4 hospitals in the suburban area where I live. Two of them had Peds units. Now none of them have separate Peds units. They have a few beds on the adult med/surg units for Peds patients. In order to find hospitals that have separate Peds units, you have to go into the city. There are also very few pediatricians available in the suburbs now.
I always wanted to work ICU but I didn't manage to get an ICU rotation in nursing school. They selected people randomly so the people who didn't want ICU got to go there and the ones who did didn't. Go figure. I dabbled in several specialties before I managed to finally get an ICU job and I stayed in that specialty for a long time, with a brief respite to work in acute dialysis. Now I'm in school to become a critical care NP. Can't think of anything I'd rather do. I never wanted to work with kids. I hated my peds rotation and L&D was the absolute worse. I'm another one who doesn't really like babies or children. I was lucky enough to work in an ED that had a peds ED right next door, so all we saw was adults which suited me fine.
Certainly why I dislike adults. They annoy the hell out of me and i will NEVER care for them as a RN. I would rather remain unemployed until I find a NICU job. ��
Sorry if this has been responded to, but good luck with that. I hope you aren't in CA or NY. Remain unemployed for years looking for that coveted NICU role. Eventually, you will become a new grad with no experience becoming not hireable.
I would at least keep my options open so I could someday have a chance.
And little people almost ALWAYS come with big people that you will have to deal with on a daily basis.
That is truly the most frustrating part of the job. It's nice to work with kids and their parents are usually an added bonus and partner in care but, good god, when you get bad ones...it can really make you wonder about humanity in general. A lot of NICU is not haplessly preemie babies that were born on the cusp of 8 months and need a little help. One of the nurses I precepted with when I was in NICU said something along the lines of, "If the baby is here, mom didn't have a clue." Granted, the hospital I was at very frequently dealt with mothers who either weren't responsible enough to go to their prenatal visist, were on meth and caused themselves to go into labor at 22 weeks (one such lovely woman wondered aloud as she was being wheeled in for her c-section of her 7th child if she would get to actually keep this one) were incarcerated or otherwise stricken with circumstances that meant these kids were going to get the crappiest of starts in life. So, I vowed I would never be a NICU nurse because, truly, adults are maddeningly disappointing in SO many ways.
I was dead set on psych as I went into clinicals. My previous degree was in psychology and while I loved every minute of my psych education, i didn't want to be limited to only caring for a patient's mental well-being and neglect physical well-being (which is how I found myself in nursing school. After my clinicals i fell in love with all aspects of nursing especially critical care and emergency. My point is to not believe you'll only love a specific speciality. You might surprise yourself Best of luck!!
I graduate in Spring and have my heart set on critical care. Its what I have wanted to do since before starting nursing school. I'm not too picky about the type of ICU to start. I would do step down or med surg if I don't get a job right away in ICU.
Well, I guess everyone has to find their own niche. I cannot imagine wanting to work NICU. It's way too sad when things go bad. But that's me. I am so thankful that there are people like you who want to do this work. Even though my kids are grown I still personalize my feelings with little people when they are hurt or sick. I'm not sure why, but I can stay calm and focused when adults are critical or dying, but it is totally different when it is a child. It's a good thing that we are all different!
Well, I guess everyone has to find their own niche. I cannot imagine wanting to work NICU. It's way too sad when things go bad. But that's me. I am so thankful that there are people like you who want to do this work. Even though my kids are grown I still personalize my feelings with little people when they are hurt or sick. I'm not sure why, but I can stay calm and focused when adults are critical or dying, but it is totally different when it is a child. It's a good thing that we are all different!
This is another reason I don't ever want to work with kids. I would be way too tempted to go hunting some dark night. My moral compass leans a bit to much in the direction of the eye and not enough to the cheek.
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Best of luck!!
RNperdiem, RN
4,592 Posts
Sometimes it is a wonder any nurse gets to work with peds when you look at the numbers.
My hospital has a census page. You can see on one page the entire hospital census broken down by department. It tells you how many beds each unit has and how many are available.
In my university, level 1 hospital, the vast majority of inpatients are adults. There are 18 PICU beds and over 100 adult ICU beds when you combine numbers from surgical, medical, neuro and cardiac ICUs. There are a couple of peds floors and a NICU, but again, the number of nurses needed to staff these areas are so much fewer than adults.
Add in the fact that not every hospital, especially the smaller ones, admit pediatric patients at all.
The numbers point to the fact that getting hired for a hospital pediatric job is more difficult because there are fewer positions to hire for.