How do you know if your prepared for specalized field?

[MDMZemergent]

Help-I graduate in Dec 07 and have been offered a job in the NICU. I really don't think that I am prepared for this position coming right out of school, but I can't imagine that they would be offering new grads these positions if they didn't feel confident that they would be able to handle it. I'm not real sure what to think, any advice would be very helpfull. Or any recomendations on how to prepare for the first day in a job like this would be great.

[frostylightning]

Hi,

Im a nursing student, and I had a clinical rotation to the NICU a few weeks ago. I spoke with the nurse there since I'm interested in pediatrics, and wanted to see what kind of work she did to get that position.

She told me that she was hired into the NICU right after she graduated, and she just learned while on the floor for a few years.

I don't know if I would recommend that route, but if you know of some graduate work you can do, like maybe ACLS or maybe shadowing a NICU nurse, and see if you're capable of really doing the work. That might help you be more confident when you see exactly what you would be getting into.

Often we surprise ourselves at how much we really know.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I coordinated NICU orientations for many years. Only a few new grads are "really" prepared for NICU at graduation. Most are not. However, some of those who are not ready do fine as well. The key isn't so much "how much you know about NICU" but rather, "Are you the type of person who can tolerate 'not knowing' and feeling uncomfortable for several months.

Most of the people who "don't make it" in the NICU as a new grad struggle with their emotions more than with the clinical knowledge and skills. If the NICU has a strong orientation program, they can teach you what you need to know and do. If they regularly hire new grads, they know how to do that and probably have realistic expectations of their new grad hires. However, they can't change the fact that you will probably FEEL insecure and uncomfortable for quite a while as a new grad in an ICU. Some people can handle those feelings better than others -- and THAT's usually the key in determining who stays and who leaves.

So ... how comfortable are you with the idea of going to work feeling uncomfortable for several months? Can you "suck it up" and stick it out to get over that initial period of discomfort and stress?

[Dignan]

As a GN I took a job on an oncology floor 10 months ago. I was definitely not ready for it but it was a good way to learn. I feel like now I am prepared for almost anything, except the NCLEX.