I love babies so much it hurts, would I be a good NICU nurse?

[TootsieRN]

I am a BSN nurse who has no experience in peds or OB, but I am thinking of looking into a new field and I wonder if I would have what it takes to be an ICU nurse. Maybe someone could evaluate and give me an opinion. I am a mother myself. My heart melts for children and babies. I could cuddle and stroke and talk to them all day. I like doing hands on things. I like high tech stuff. I like being a part of a team.

I understand working with such frail little people is not all touchy feel-good, but what qualities would a nurse need to be suitable for this line of work?

[Galore]

Off the top of my head...strong organization and time management skills, ability to advocate for patients, communication skills (you will need to translate complex medical information for parents and do a lot of teaching). If you feel like browsing, there are lots of previous threads on this topic.

I think one important quality though is being able to clearly define your professional boundaries and distance yourself somewhat from your patients and the choices their parents make. At least for myself as a newer NICU nurse, I have felt better about my job as I've gotten better about leaving work at work. A lot of these infants have complex illnesses and crappy family situations; it may sound awful to say it's bad to care too much but in this field I think it can lead to burnout.

You may also want to shadow a NICU nurse to see what it's all about. If you work in a level III facility, you will probably do very little cuddling and interacting with the patients other than what's medically necessary, as they are too fragile and/or need their rest.

[Jerico, BSN, RN]

I too absolutely love babies, always have. I have four of my own!

I love being an NICU nurse, I like doing what is best for babies - advocating for them. I would never be any other kind of nurse.

My heart does not get torn up when one gets angel wings, as I just assume God needed him or her back for some reason...I just do my best for them while they are in my care and let God take care of the rest.