I Think I'm Done

[abrew98]

Hello! 

I am 6 months into my first nursing job as a mother baby nurse. It's a great floor, my coworkers and managers are great, but I feel like this floor is a dead end. Everything is pretty routine. Of course you have hemorrhages and hypertensive crisis, which are the most common things on my floor but that is all. I do enjoy the floor and find it to be a great learning environment so I will stay for at least a year. However, I'm really interested in transferring to NICU, I like the idea of the different levels and really challenging myself. With me being young and fresh out of school, I want something that will really push me and I really just don't feel like I have that in my current unit. And advice for going about a transfer after only my first year as a nurse?

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Its never easy to transfer to NICU, so be prepared for that. In general, NICU's have low turnover and any that they do have is generally on nights. 

You will want to see if you can get on some committees that will let you get to know NICU nurses or involved in other endeavors that will expose them to you. Let the NICU manager know you are interested in transferring (but not until that one year mark) and find out how often that happens and what you might need to do to be a viable candidate. See if you can shadow in the NICU for a shift. I would expect while COVID is going on that will be unlikely, but maybe when/if that crisis ends.

Bottom line is going to be making connections and being someone they would want to work with. That will be all about forming relationships.

Good luck.