NICU nurses

hikernurse · Dec 12, 2009

I love my little patients! I like caring for them for weeks and months. I also (for the most part) enjoy working with their families. I love that there is an interconnection between high tech and low tech (cuddling and feeding babies). Even the worst day turns around when one of your patient smiles at you :).

Besides, where else can you earn lots of money while you sit and rock a baby? :redpinkhe:

There's a lot to learn, it can be a very challenging work environment, but I like that it's not a place where I can become complacent. Honestly, I think I've got the best job in the universe!

neonatal_nurse · Dec 12, 2009

I love my area soo much!

But I haven't discovered my love for NICU/Neonatal Nursing til I graduated and I was evaluating which rotations I enjoyed the most. It was a very short stint during my nursing school days, but I remember to this day the feeling that I had when I walked into the roomful of little bassinets. Suddenly, I felt this sense of calm, like I was in the presence of angels. The first time I held a newborn, I remember the smell of her was soo good, I wanted to bottle it and take it home with me! :redpinkhe It was then, that I knew this was my place, the only place I wanted to work in and immerse myself well and be good at it. It was definitely love. :redbeathe

But on the contrary, the first time I saw a baby being born, I got dizzy, as our class was after lunch so you can just imagine my stomach at that time. I almost wanted to throw up. But, it got better in time, as I see these things on a daily basis.

I love everything, but you have to be super meticulous and careful as a NICU nurse, as sometimes, no matter how many times you check there would still be mistakes and mistakes may be life threatening and damaging especially to a neonate.

Good Luck!

sophie<3 · Dec 12, 2009

i love reading all the stories about the NICU and i know that does not mean the speciality is for me because you can read and research all day but hands-on experience is the most important. i just know the idea really sounds intriguing to me and i hear SO many NICU nurses who love their jobs. i do not know if my college offers any NICU rotations, would that be during Peds or OB?

also, did you start out in the NICU right after graduation or do you get experience in another area first?

a friend of mine who is a nurse told me that post grad i should work on med-surg for at least 6 months to get the basics in..that is fair enough, i would be new to working as a nurse and i know in the NICU mistakes can be fatal to all of the little babies...but i recently just found out that NICUs hiring new grads and i was shocked! i thought you were required to have some critical care experience before you could get hired in..

nohika · Dec 12, 2009

i love reading all the stories about the NICU and i know that does not mean the speciality is for me because you can read and research all day but hands-on experience is the most important. i just know the idea really sounds intriguing to me and i hear SO many NICU nurses who love their jobs. i do not know if my college offers any NICU rotations, would that be during Peds or OB?
also, did you start out in the NICU right after graduation or do you get experience in another area first?
a friend of mine who is a nurse told me that post grad i should work on med-surg for at least 6 months to get the basics in..that is fair enough, i would be new to working as a nurse and i know in the NICU mistakes can be fatal to all of the little babies...but i recently just found out that NICUs hiring new grads and i was shocked! i thought you were required to have some critical care experience before you could get hired in..

I'm not a new grad (or even a nurse yet) but I've heard that a lot of NICUs prefer to hire new grads because the neonates have such different vitals, reactions, etc - instead of working on an adult for floor six+ months and getting used to those vitals/reactions/etc before transferring over to an ENTIRELY different department where you'd have to re-learn basically everything you know. AKA, putting an IV in a 35-year-old man is tons different than putting one in a 2-week old premie.

Plus, the dosages for different meds is INCREDIBLY different as well.