How did you decide NICU is the right place?

NFB2008 · May 25, 2008

For me, I just knew. When I was there for clinical (one time), I loved it. I feel like these little babies need nurses who really pay attention to detail and notice that one little thing that is different. And then they need strong nurses who are willing to speak up about that one little thing they have a feeling about.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · May 25, 2008

I did a NICU shift as an EMS student a few years back and loved it. I also knew that I wanted something along the lines of the acute/critical care like I'd had in EMS, but yet something a little different. NICU fits that bill. You do get to intervene in emergencies, but there is also a lot of family education and long-term planning that goes on there.

I was a NICU baby and a pediatric frequent flyer ( :) ) as a child myself, so I've grown up listening to stories from my family about how much of an impact the neo nurses had on my recovery. I think you'll find that many people in NICU have some sort of personal experience, but it's certainly not necessary.

elizabells, BSN, RN · May 26, 2008

I think I'm a little different than most because my reasons for going to the NICU were all from a more practical, maybe even cold, side. Of course, once I got there I loved it for all the softer, nicer reasons, which just goes to show how sometimes you end up where you're supposed to be, even if it's for weird reasons. Soooo...

1- Most of the time we get to make an actual difference in a problem the patient bears no responsibility for. Sometimes the parents do, but the babies themselves are purely innocent. This makes me feel good, even when things get kinda futile.

2- I like numbers, lab data, monitors. I'm sort of like Dr House on TV - I don't really trust people that easily, and the idea of doing something like the ER where you have to figure out the truth of a story the patient tells you holds no appeal for me.

3- I have a bad back and bad joints. Tiny patients = yay!

4- I love the ICU thing of having a couple of patients that you know EVERYTHING about. I really love the days I only have one, and can really read the entire chart, all the progress notes, etc.

5- I'm good in a crisis. I may be kind of a mess in my own life, but when things start going crazy at work I get into a kind of zen space where the more freaked out everyone else gets, the more I focus and get very, very calm. Psychoanalyze as you will.

6- Um, babies are awesome. :lol2:

hikernurse · May 27, 2008

I think I'm a little different than most because my reasons for going to the NICU were all from a more practical, maybe even cold, side. Of course, once I got there I loved it for all the softer, nicer reasons, which just goes to show how sometimes you end up where you're supposed to be, even if it's for weird reasons. Soooo...
1- Most of the time we get to make an actual difference in a problem the patient bears no responsibility for. Sometimes the parents do, but the babies themselves are purely innocent. This makes me feel good, even when things get kinda futile.
2- I like numbers, lab data, monitors. I'm sort of like Dr House on TV - I don't really trust people that easily, and the idea of doing something like the ER where you have to figure out the truth of a story the patient tells you holds no appeal for me.
3- I have a bad back and bad joints. Tiny patients = yay!
4- I love the ICU thing of having a couple of patients that you know EVERYTHING about. I really love the days I only have one, and can really read the entire chart, all the progress notes, etc.
5- I'm good in a crisis. I may be kind of a mess in my own life, but when things start going crazy at work I get into a kind of zen space where the more freaked out everyone else gets, the more I focus and get very, very calm. Psychoanalyze as you will.
6- Um, babies are awesome.

Yep, all of that :). Although once I did clinicals in a NICU, I never looked back. I told my CI that I would be working in a NICU as soon as I could get hired .

Plus, night staffing isn't any different than days--and sometimes better because we staff for more admits since it's harder to call in nurses in the middle of the night.

We are total care and frankly, that suits my strong desire to control things :rolleyes: . I don't have to follow up on tasks because I know whether or not they were done and why.

Besides, everyone knows NICU nurses rock .

texas2007, BSN, RN · May 27, 2008

I chose nicu because it just felt right. Cheesy but true. During my other clinical rotations, I would get all nervous and sweaty and couldn't sleep the night before, but I LOVED my nicu rotation and life was good. And I'll admit I took into consideration a few of the factors listed before me, mainly that I wouldn't have to turn 500 lb patients, I can hardly push 25 lbs muchless a 500 lb person.

jenn_rn_nj · May 27, 2008

Though I haven't started, yet, NICU is the only area that has ever had any appeal to me...my reasons are similar to Elizabells plus a few others:

I would rather work with adults as a parent, not a patient. I love the thought of teaching a parent how to help care for / hold their little one. I love teaching!

I'm a control freak and I need to know lots of details to stay sane so I'd rather have a couple patients that I know a lot about than 5-7 that I feel like I don't really know well.

I would rather exercise my mind at work than my body (I prefer to exercise my body on the open road not turning / moving patients that weigh double or triple my weight!).

When I walk into a NICU I get a feeling of peace...call me crazy, but it just feels "right".

elizabells, BSN, RN · May 27, 2008

I chose nicu because it just felt right. Cheesy but true. During my other clinical rotations, I would get all nervous and sweaty and couldn't sleep the night before, but I LOVED my nicu rotation and life was good.

I think this is so, so true. Sometimes you just get a feeling. During my psych rotation I got such bad anxiety-induced reflux I literally vomited blood. I was throwing up from terror almost every day I had to go in. And I came pretty close to failing that clinical. Sometimes, you just KNOW.

busyrn62 · May 31, 2008

I used to love NICU because it provided a good balance of experiences between emergency care, critical care and med-surg. But as technology advances, we find ourselves facing more and more ethical dilemmas that have taken some of the appeal out of the specialty.

corks · Jun 3, 2008

i worked as a midwife for years and could not practice to the standard that i wished cos of work load and pressure from management to achieve so may home bookings, home confinements, on top of 24 hr on calls. then one day i went on duty, only midwife on the postnatal ward with a nursing auxillary and whilst helping a first day section breast feed, one of the antenatal ladies delivered down the toilet, she rang the emergency bell but by the time i got there it was all over. :banghead: later that day i went straight to my manager's office to hand in my notice but she did not wish to loose me so asked me would i work in nicu and they would train me up. so i decided to defect from midwifery. :yeah:never looked back, that was 12 years ago, now i am doing my masters to be an advanced neonatal nurse practitioner.:typing kismet, things happen for a reason and i honestly love the rollercoaster ride of a nicu and the relationships that you develop with families. it is the best job in the world and the job satisfaction is second to none even through the bad times as we are very privileged to have spent time with those babies whose time with us is limited