GOOD BYE ER! HELLO Special Care Nursery

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Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.

Hi all, (formerly sweetooth EMTP, RN)

Well after a looooooooong two years of applying elsewhere and internally I finally got a job in the Special Care Nursery (Levell IIb) in the hospital where I currently work! yaaaa.... I was to the point of quitting nursing all together and I was only working 12 hours a month, but now I am excited to return and try out a new area, an area that I have always dreamed of working in!

Just wondering if anyone has any tips, especally for orientation etc... I am going from primarily taking care of adults to now only taking care of neonates. I had my share of sick sick neonates and pediatric patients in the ER, but I am sure this will be a bit different.

Also, not to get to ahead of myself, I would also like to know what an acceptible time frame is to work in a Special Care Nursery before applying and having a good chance of getting into a NICU is. My future plans if all goes well is to become a neonatal nurse practitioner....

Thanks for any info.

HappyEMTPRN

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I don't have any tips because I'm still trying to get into nursing school, but congrats on getting into the area that you want to be in. I also hope to be a NNP one day too!

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Specializes in Neonatal ICU (Cardiothoracic).

I would say it depends on how hard it is to get into NICU where you are. Most places love nurses with some experience, be it Level II or otherwise. A year or two of experience would look great to a NICU manager looking to hire. My advice, enjoy and learn from your L II experience, as it will really come in handy in NICU. Learning the basics of a relatively healthy newborn assessment is invaluable.

Good luck!

SteveNNP

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Specializes in NICU.

Congrats HappyParamedicRN!

I was told that if you have a min of one year experience, then you may have a chance to work in the NICU. However, in my situation I am a new grad and the facility was actually hiring new grads! The managers were very selectful with the applicants for interview. Luckily, my classmate worked as a unit clerk and I had 2 months of personal experience in the NICU (my son was admitted). I got to know the managers, nurses, and physicians within that time frame...I believe this is how I got the job.

My plan is to get about two years of experience, then go for the RNC. Once again, congrats with your change of career and becoming a NNP.

~WatergirlRN

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Hi Sweetooth -

I remember reading a post a while back and thinking that you'd go back to EMS forever. I think you'll like neonates! It varies by unit, but there can be a real sense of autonomy and the docs depend on you to pick up on subtle-yet-significant assessment changes over the course of your shift.

If you're looking for a good resource for some reading, a lot of people start with Handbook of Neonatal Intensive Care, sometimes referred to as "the Merenstein-Gardner" (those are the authors' names).

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Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.

THank you Eric... I was thinking I would be back in EMS forever as well; however I am willing to give nursing one more try, if I still hate nursing working with babies, than I am just not meant to be a nurse, but I think I'll love it!

Looking forward to starting in 2.5 weeks!!

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Specializes in NICU, ER.

Hello HappyParamedicRN,

May I say greetings from another happy Paramedic Rn. I was a Emt-p for 11years, I flew as a flight paramedic for the last four years and went directly to NICU from rn school. So there were many puzzled folks who thought I belonged in a trauma center. I wanted to go some where that was totally new for me and I could start fresh. I love the NICU it is exactly the amount of excitement I need without being in the Ambulance. I love my little patients and there families. I work in regional level 3 NICU, and enjoy a broad patient composition and and am rotated through our ICU and Step down portion of our NICU. I am not as familiar with a special care nursery but can imagine it is like our NICU in many ways. Your nursing skills and practice will be vital in both locations. Good Luck to you. And may I say there is a NICU bug just like the trauma bug and I have been bitten and cannot say I want to go back!!! All the best!!!

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Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.

Well its been over a month and I still haven't heard from the manager what my hours will be etc... so for right now looks like I am sticking with EMS...

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