Is the nicu and nursery easy?

Specialties NICU

Published

Is it hard to find jobs in the nicu or nursery right away? They seem to be the easiest jobs in the hospital. Is there anything difficult about them?

Specializes in NICU, OB/GYN.

I sometimes work in the nursery, and respond to deliveries to admit "well babies" (quotes used because some wind up needing a higher level of care when I arrive). I recently admitted 12 babies in 12 hours to our service by myself. Each admission takes at least 30 minutes when there is a normal delivery, baby is term and appears healthy, mom requests bottle-feedings, and her baby doesn't require blood sugar checks.

Our headquarters when we work in this role is in our nursery. I sat on my unit for 20 minutes to eat breakfast and lunch before I spent the rest of the day in Labor and Delivery. I spent the rest of the day standing under radiant warmers, and over cribs (I peed twice, I think). The nurses there would literally see me come out of one room, and say, "hey, can you stop in room __ in __ minutes to see a baby?" My charge nurse knew I hadn't skipped off because she kept getting phone calls for reservations for these couplets, but days like this haven't been uncommon in my hospital.

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Specializes in Allergy/Immunology.

I have a question, and I am not trying to insult here. Does your mom speak English? I'm just wondering why you're the one always asking questions for your mom. Is she asking you to? Anyway, I'm sure there are no "easy" nursing jobs. It is hard work and lots of dedication. And 50 is so not old. Can she do it?

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Specializes in ICU.

Take care of a 440 gram 23 weeker on the oscillator with a christmas tree full of pumps and sobbing parents in the room, and then come back and ask about easy.

Unless you mean physically lifting things easy. Because....yeah. 10 lb babies feel like lead bricks to me these days.

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Specializes in Pedi.

Is this a joke? NICU is Neonatal INTENSIVE CARE UNIT. If you think taking care of babies with their intestines or their spine on the outside is "easy", what's your definition of hard? So you've got that on one hand... babies with severe congenital anomalies and on the other hand, you've got the 22 weeker who doesn't even weigh 1 lb on a vent with tubes in every orifice that exists.

No, it's not easy. It's not easy to get a job there and it's not easy to work there.

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Specializes in ICU.
My mom is 50, I don't think she can really handle a med surg job. I just think she needs a slower paced job in a not too busy part of the hospital.

Rehab?

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Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.

There is nothing easy about NICU. When your patient weighs 15.5 oz, has skin that is still in the jelly stage, has fused eyelids, and is on an oscillating vent so that you can't even count respirations, you just document "jiggling" you realize you are in a whole different world. Everything is amplified. It's a world where the patient gets 8cc of blood in a transfusion, and where you can kill a baby in a heartbeat if you aren't paying attention. And then you have to get past the fact that nearly every thing you do hurts a baby. Not hurt as in harms, but hurt as in causes pain. The ones that are in there a long time will start to scream the minute you swab their arms because they know it means a stick.

And then there's the emotional pain. It's not unusual (at least in our area) to have parents that just won't come visit their babies. The only way to get them there is to threaten to call DHR and have the check stopped (any baby born 32 weeks or less here is considered disabled and the parents get a check even when the baby is still in the hospital). This is a baby you have been assigned to for weeks, and you have fallen in love with, and you know the baby will go home to miserable conditions. And I haven't even begun to talk about the babies that die. NICU is tough. Just because there's no heavy lifting does not mean it's easy. And I didn't even mention the distraught parents that you have to deal with.

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I have several pregnant friends, please dont work in the nursery or NICU. My son was in NICU, I really hope nurses there didn't have this attitude. This can't be for real.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

And you think NICU is the place for her? O.M.G....

My mom is 50, I don't think she can really handle a med surg job. I just think she needs a slower paced job in a not too busy part of the hospital.
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This post cannot be for real.

No it is not an easy job.

Yes, it is hard to get one.

The end.

^This. Totally agree. Can be an incredibly stressful job.

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My mom is 50, I don't think she can really handle a med surg job. I just think she needs a slower paced job in a not too busy part of the hospital.

Wow. Really? Are you kidding?

Besides, 40's and 50's are still high energy years. Of course it can depend on the individual. I agree that you should let your mom worry about her career situation.

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NICU is extremely stressful - it is an ICU environment where not only do you have the patient to care for but also a very distraught family.

Not an easy job at all. Doubt there is an easy job. That said, 50 isn't that old - what does Mom want to do?

Again, ^This. Totally true.

It amazes me how people think that you don't care for adults if you are a pediatric or neonatal nurse. Um, you have family-centered care--it doubles the stress load. Often parents are there pretty much all of the time. You have to learn how to handle this in the best possible way.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

While I don't agree with the harsh criticism of the other posters in this thread...neither do I agree with the harsh criticism of the OP and his/her post. The OP may genuinely not know what is involved in this specialty. The OP may think that because babies are involved that it must be a piece of cake, or maybe the OP is confusing nursery nursing with NICU.

Though I do agree with two things.

First, the NICU is definitely not easy--I know I can't do it for many reasons. Then again, very few specialities meet the definition of "easy" that the OP is looking for

Second, and I say this to the OP with all kindness: I know you mean well, but let your mother decide what specialty is best for her. I'm sure you'd feel ire if your mom tried to pick out your speciality for you. So let Mom find her own path.

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