How to get a job working with babies

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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Hi everyone! I wanted to know if anyone out there could lend me some advice. I start my program this Fall at Gwinnett Tech. I have wanted to play a role with babies (neonatal, newborns, NICU, L&D, etc). I was wondering what steps I should take to getting a position in one of those areas of a facility. I should probably add that I am pro life so I don't want to play a role in elective abortions.

Also, I understand that certain situations can occur during a wanted pregnancy that forces us to make hard decisions. Do we risk the mother's life for the child, or vise versa? Or do we leave it all up to the mother and family? How do we weigh out what to do in such situations? I know there are bound to be some sad cases in my future, especially since this area is full of sad occurrences.

Any testimonials would be appreciated as well on how to cope when you start out. I have a feeling I will have a lot of break downs where I'll wanna cry my eyes out. How do you stay strong for the families? Thanks in advance for all the advice!!! :)

Specializes in ER.

You felt strongly about the topic to include it in your original post. You also included your own ethical decisions in the first post. Morals and what is right and wrong depends on the person. You view that circumcising your son was the best choice but realize that it is not a standard practice in other developed countries. The point of hygiene is also irrelevant if the parents take care of the son's genitalia. Other countries liken male circumcision to female circumcision. It's not widely practiced in Europe.

Also, babies are harder to assess for pain. Did you monitor his respirations? Were you counting his heart rate during it? Did his sucking increase? As for him not crying, ten to one they gave him a sugar pacifier or went further with actual medication to help numb. Clinicians agree that circumcision causes pain.

Nursing is a very tough career and there is a high burnout rate. I strongly recommend going into something like med-surg to get a basic background to build up against in case you do wind up in a high stress area like the NICU, OB, etc and then find out that you cannot handle it. With the med-surg background, you will be able to fall back on or try to find another field of nursing. Specializing too early can back you into a corner where if you find you want to switch fields, it will be more difficult.

You felt strongly about the topic to include it in your original post. You also included your own ethical decisions in the first post. Morals and what is right and wrong depends on the person. You view that circumcising your son was the best choice but realize that it is not a standard practice in other developed countries. The point of hygiene is also irrelevant if the parents take care of the son's genitalia. Other countries liken male circumcision to female circumcision. It's not widely practiced in Europe.

Also, babies are harder to assess for pain. Did you monitor his respirations? Were you counting his heart rate during it? Did his sucking increase? As for him not crying, ten to one they gave him a sugar pacifier or went further with actual medication to help numb. Clinicians agree that circumcision causes pain.

Nursing is a very tough career and there is a high burnout rate. I strongly recommend going into something like med-surg to get a basic background to build up against in case you do wind up in a high stress area like the NICU, OB, etc and then find out that you cannot handle it. With the med-surg background, you will be able to fall back on or try to find another field of nursing. Specializing too early can back you into a corner where if you find you want to switch fields, it will be more difficult.

I made sure they numbed him well for the circumcision. I could tell the needle wasn't pleasant but he wasn't breathing any faster than before it happened. He was naked so I was watching him breath. I knew it would hurt do for the week they said it would. It healed in 7 days without issues because I was very thorough with the wound and applied extra jelly and protected the site. What I meant by more hygienic was not just while I had to bath him and male sure his area was clean; I was talking life long. Many young boys who bath themselves don't to well enough, so healthcare professionals said it can help prevent infections from neglecting to clean well. I definitely don't want to start in an area with babies, except maybe ER at a local hospital that focuses on peds. I think babies deserve a well rounded nurse who can manage stress so I agree with you. I'm sure most places near me want at least 2 years prior experience for more intense areas like OB or neonatal/NICU. I hope I can get a med-surg position close by. But I need not worry yet cus i haven't even started the program. ...or pass NCLEX.

Specializes in ICU.
In the NICU do they not try to save sick premies?

Yes, and sometimes this is the worst part of my job. We can "save" a whole lot of babies of increasingly earlier gestational ages these days. It doesn't mean we should, or that they will have any kind of quality of life. Sometimes you have to accept that there are fates worse than death.

Specializes in ER.

So you expect me to believe that you knew enough about signs and symptoms of discomfort to watch how the baby was breathing during the procedure where they circumcised your son? Also, most hospitals don't let parents watch. The last thing they need is a new mom passing out during the procedure.

Nursing can have some positive experiences but you may find that there are more negatives than positives. You may see patients that bleed out. You may have to be one of the people in the room when they find out their loved one is dead. You may have to care for the patient who is basically dead and with really no more options to keep their sp02 up and their bp above 90 systolic but the family won't let them go into palliative care.

So you expect me to believe that you knew enough about signs and symptoms of discomfort to watch how the baby was breathing during the procedure where they circumcised your son? Also, most hospitals don't let parents watch. The last thing they need is a new mom passing out during the procedure.

Nursing can have some positive experiences but you may find that there are more negatives than positives. You may see patients that bleed out. You may have to be one of the people in the room when they find out their loved one is dead. You may have to care for the patient who is basically dead and with really no more options to keep their sp02 up and their bp above 90 systolic but the family won't let them go into palliative care.

I don't care what you believe. Remember, I was the patient, and you are the nurse here. So yeah, that is what I am saying. He didn't change his reaction or any body movements from the moment before circumcision to the end of it. He acted as if he didn't know what was happening. Granted that is not always the case, I made sure it was for my son. I know people who's sons had terrible circumcisions so I made sure I was present. If they denied me that, I would have had it done elsewhere. Later on when the anesthesia wore off, it was obvious with his reaction that he didn't like being changed because his business hurt. That just further secured my first observation, that he didnt feel the procedure. I made it abundantly clear to my OB that I didn't want him in pain. Plus, there are many worse things a child could go through in this field than getting a circumcision. I know I will see deaths, and terrible things....I'm not blind about the field just because I am not in a rotation yet....

I don't care what you believe. Remember, I was the patient, and you are the nurse here. So yeah, that is what I am saying.

You received a circumcision? Or felt this vicariously through your child?

Either way, your child didn't have a choice whether or not he wanted to be circumcised. YOU made that decision and the doctors or nurses working there that may or may not have been opposed to the practice, RESPECTED that decision.

You might find that later on your son may or may not have different views on what was performed on him. It is not that uncommon for men to feel like they've been mutilated.

When he voices his opinion, are you going to tell him you don't care what he believes? Because as far as I've seen it's clearly about you.

You notice how the way you are turning this on me, it presents my same feelings about unnecessary abortions only being about the mother....I was still the patient, and for some reason you feel it's okay to judge me on this forum about my choices while under care of others, yet you are not suppose to. You seem to be hypocritical. Kinda fake if you ask me. If you practice what you preach and not judge a patient's decision, you aren't being consistent here with me. You are breaking your own standards and it sounds very one sided. People become a different person on social networks behind a screen name. I'm glad I wasn't a patient of yours.

Also, saying that when my son grows up he might be upset with my choosing to circumcise him.....There are many things parents choose to have done with their children that their children might not want. However, being a parent means more than feeding and clothing them until they are independent. It means making decisions to the best of our knowledge that will better their futures. That is what I did. If studies didn't show circumcising as having much of any benefit, I wouldn't have had it done. If he had a birth defects that could be cosmetically fixed and the risks of fixing it were slim, i would proceed to fix them because it would more than likely avoid the same bullying he might get with the defect, or even help him when he is trying to find a job, or find his soul mate. It might sound shallow of me to someone ready to judge me behind a screen name, but I think of the long run, not just the here and now. And almost everything I do is for his benefit. Why? Case that's what a good mother does. I'm not saying women who leave their child uncircumcised are bad mothers, they might just be more careful to protect their little ones business, but so many dont. But anyways, I never started this to be a debate. I don't need to prove myself to anyone one here. I think my employers will see my worth and respect my choice when I sign my papers for hire that I will not be involved in abortions that are non medical.

I was illustrating a point on how you very clearly wrote "I do not care what you believe" to the nurse, because you were the patient. So why is it hard to believe that patients you may be treating will feel the same way about YOU when YOU are a nurse!

You are on here expressing judgment towards a patient that may or may not have different beliefs than you such as abortions. Yet here you are expressing that you circumcised your child, and another nurse felt differently about it and you clearly said you did what you felt what was right because you were the patient, and clearly expressed you "do not care" what the nurse believes. So why should patients or even the place of your employ give you special circumstances because you don't believe in certain practices? Practice what you preach.

i said i just dont want to help perform abortions for convenience. you sign the paperwork when they hire you so that you are not put on those cases, and there is no harm done. If the patient decides to get an abortion for convenience, i wont even be involved. So yeah, I do not care. If a nurse doesnt want to help perform a circumcision, then another one will. I wont get all bent out of shape that a different nurse is on my case.

i do practice what i preach. Let people do as they wish with people willing to provide that service. Just as its a law for women to be able to choose what they do with their bodies, the law protects me from HAVING TO perform abortions. You sound bias. Like we should sell our morals for the ability to be RNs. That might be you, but if I allow people with your way of thinking to trample on me, then laws that protect my beliefs will disappear. Nope, aint gonna happen. If you don't like the law, take it up with your president.

You know somethings I just realized...When I chose to have my son circumcised, I thought it was standard and that it wasn't something controversial to begin with. I was not implying while making that choice that what the nurses might have felt strongly against it. But I figured since I knew that studies showed it as being cleaner and healthier to maintain and reduce the risk of infections, I thought everyone did them. Just thought I might mention this. Plus, I never would have wanted to make any of my providers do something against their beliefs. I did ask for their advice a lot.

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