From NICU to Peds?

Published Dec 30, 2009

BaByNuRsE1986

2 Posts

Specializes in SCN/NICU.

Hi fellow nurses!

Sorry this may be a bit lengthy, however I really want to get my story out so that the best advice may follow. I graduated from a 4 year nursing program (and did very well) in 2008 in Rochester, NY. I worked at a level 1 wellborn/special care nursery for 1 year right out of school. I did pick up some valuable basic skills, however, I realize now that I should have pursued a level 3 NICU job right away (they were there at the time) but I didn't and can't change that now. Everything is 20/20 in hindsight right? Since I had been born and raised in Rochester, I was getting a little restless at that hospital and in that city. I felt that after one year of nursing experience, that would be a good time to move to NYC (I'd always wanted to live there, or so I thought). So I found a job in NYC, a level 2 NICU (this time I really couldn't find a level 3 NICU opening, probably because of the competitiveness and the recession). I've been in this position for over 6 months and while I do love the actual job, I hate the hospital. I find it to be very disorganized, unsafe, and the people seem to be truly miserable and counting down the days until they can retire. I also feel that this hospital does not put a strong value or emphasis on continuing education (no inservices, no discounts on classes or conferences, nothing!) And let's just say that living in NYC is getting old, fast! So long story short, I've decided that Rochester wasn't so bad and I want to come back, hopefully within the next 6 to 9 months. Living in NYC was an experience, just not for me. Here's my issue (or issues I guess): I want to work at a very large institution affiliated with the University of Rochester (which is where I want to get a master's degree in the next couple years and eventually become an NP). I have a few friends from school who work there and say that it's incredible but they are very selective with hiring. Also, I want to pursue working in a peds unit for a change, however I only have NICU/newborn experience. So here's my dilemma, do I have a chance of getting hired in an area I don't have experience in? Even though at my time of applying, I'll have 2 years of RN experience? Also I've had 2 jobs in 2 years, does it look bad on a resume if I spent only 1 year at each hospital even though I wasn't fired and could get good recommendations from both managers? Furthermore, I've subscribed and have been doing some reading in some peds journals and will start volunteering at a low-income children's afterschool program soon, will this show my future employer how interested and passionate I am about the health and welfare of kids? Would setting up a job shadowing experience with a nurse that works on that unit so I can start showing my face and interest to the manager, and also know what I'm really getting myself into help my chances of getting hired at all? Also, I can definitely say that I really want to stay at this job (if I get it) for a long time. I want to flourish and really learn there so I want that to be it for me. How can I assure my future employer that I'm done traveling around and trying different things and that I want to stay long term? Maybe I haven't made the best choices so far but I'm so early into my career, I hope I haven't made any permanent mistakes that would hurt my chances of getting this job in peds. Any advice or thoughts or opinions are welcomed, however I don't need "You should have done this/that" because that is not helpful to me at this point. I'm only trying to improve my future, as there is no way to change the past. Thanks in advance!