How to get nursery job?

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Nov 30, 2007

The answer depends on the facility you look at. Some places have nurses that are cross-trained for everything - L/D, postpartum, and nursery. Other places have separate staff for each area. Where I am, nurses are cross-trained for mother/baby and nursery, but L&D has separate staff (and a separate manager). So it just depends. And, more and more places are moving toward couplet care or 'rooming-in' in which one nurse cares for mom and baby together and baby rarely leaves her side.

You just have to look around at different sites and see what they offer. You might want to look under 'women's services' on the hospital's website and see what kind of facility they have in terms of rooming-in or not.

Be advised though - even if you are physically caring for only the babies, you will still be caring emotionally for mom and answering her questions, helping breastfeed etc. I understand where you are coming from, though. I'd rather be in the nursery than anywhere else. Good luck!

ERNurse752, RN · Nov 30, 2007

Where I live, no jobs like that exist.

Well babies all room in with the moms and only go to the nursery for their metabolic screens, hearing screens, circumcisions, etc.

They have nurses who are assigned to the nursery, but they often take care of the postpartum mom as well. The ones who are assigned to the nursery are considered Special Care Nursery, anyway, and they take care of the sick babies who aren't sick enough for NICU. They also attend deliveries; lady partsl when needed and all c sections.

MommyandRN · Nov 30, 2007

Right... alot of the babies are rooming in now. Where I had my babies I had the choice to room in or not. I planned to room in but they kept spitting up and I needed sleep and was scared they would choke so I sent them to the nursery for the night. There were separate nursery nurses just for the babies and then the post partum nurse was separate.

I don't know what I want to do really anyway... trying to figure things out... just curious right now - thanks!

*ac* · Nov 30, 2007

Right... alot of the babies are rooming in now. Where I had my babies I had the choice to room in or not. I planned to room in but they kept spitting up and I needed sleep and was scared they would choke so I sent them to the nursery for the night. There were separate nursery nurses just for the babies and then the post partum nurse was separate.
I don't know what I want to do really anyway... trying to figure things out... just curious right now - thanks!

I live in a large urban area with dozens of hospitals - NONE where you can "send the baby to the nursery for the night". Unless the baby is sick, or having a procedure, they are with the mom. There is no such thing as a well-baby nursery around here anymore, and hasn't been for a long time!

crysobrn · Dec 1, 2007

In the region I work, all the hospitals do mother/baby couplets.

Where I am we ALL have to cross train to l&d, postpartum,nursery (including intermediate care nsy), and antepartum.

Even if you find a job just taking care of babies you are still constantly dealing with the moms... teaching etc...

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Dec 1, 2007

Be advised though - even if you are physically caring for only the babies, you will still be caring emotionally for mom and answering her questions, helping breastfeed etc. I understand where you are coming from, though. I'd rather be in the nursery than anywhere else. Good luck!

Oh yes... my dream job. This is something I could have done for a lifetime.

Sadly, though, in the past 20-30 years, the "nursery" has become a thing of the past.

SmilingBluEyes · Dec 1, 2007

I would more try for couplet/post-partum nursing. Most "nurseries" are higher-acuity units, like special care or NICU. If that is what you aim for, go for that. But if you want to care for "well" babies, your best bet is to seek work in PP/couplet units. GOOD LUCK!

MommyandRN · Dec 2, 2007

Thanks for the info. I guess my area hospital is unique in that way. The nurses probably do both PP and nursery, but there was definitely a separate nursery there. The babies were examined there each shift and they had hearing tests there etc. It was packed full at night with babies of moms who needed sleep. I totally understand the rooming in benefits... but I still think there needs to be a place where the nurses can take care of the babies at night if the moms want to sleep or take a shower. If there wasn't a nursery at our hospital, I wouldn't have been able to take a shower at all during my post partum stay! Seriously - for the hospitals that strictly room in - where do the babies go when the mom wants to shower and there is no husband there to help watch the baby? I would never have just left the baby alone in the room.

crysobrn · Dec 2, 2007

We do have a seperate nursery and honestly a pretty flexible rooming in policy, for mothers that need a break or want to sleep... BUT we still do couplets. So, you can take care of babies in the nursery but you are also caring for their mothers... For years we were set up that one nurse cared for the babies and one for the mothers but we've now shifted completely to couplets. personally I miss doing just babies.

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Dec 3, 2007

Seriously - for the hospitals that strictly room in - where do the babies go when the mom wants to shower and there is no husband there to help watch the baby? I would never have just left the baby alone in the room.

Some moms take the crib into the bathroom with them, even with our nursery right across the hall.