Is working in the NICU the same as labor and delivery?

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Apr 19, 2012

No, it's not the same.

allnurses Guide · Apr 19, 2012

Not even close.

FORTHELOVEOF!!!! · Apr 19, 2012

If you were fascinated by childbirth then you would want to look into L&D, NICU is and intensive care unit for neonates, it can be very stressful, sad, and hard to deal with. Neonates in the NICU usually are preterm, sick, or have genetic issues, and then of course all other side effects of the above mentioned. I know people who love the NICU, it's very rewarding when the care you and your peers provide get to send a baby home that didn't have the best outlook just a few weeks before but if seeing the miracle of life is what you are interested in, then L&D is your spot. But if you like to take care of sick babies and nurse them back to health, then go NICU, but understand not all of them make it and you need to explore your feelings about how that effects you, it's ok to be sad and cry but some people can't let it go, so do some soul searching before you make a decision.

Wish you all the luck :redpinkhe

NCRNMDM, ASN, RN · Apr 19, 2012

No, it isn't the same thing. NICU is the neonatal intensive care unit where premature babies, or critically ill babies go to be treated. These infants are on ventilators, heart monitors, ECMO, and tons of other machines. They may be premature, they may have undergone a complicated surgical procedure, they may have suffered cardiac or respiratory arrest, they may have an infection, etc. NICU is where the sickest babies in the hospital go, and it isn't anything like working labor and delivery.

If you want to spend your day delivering babies, taking care of the mothers, and providing care for medically stable babies, then L&D is the place for you. If you want to work with critically ill babies who are clinging to life, and fighting to live another minute, then NICU is the place for you.

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Apr 19, 2012

If you want to work with critically ill babies who are clinging to life, and fighting to live another minute, then NICU is the place for you.

And I will never do anything else, if I have my way.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Apr 19, 2012

not the same. L&D is adult patients. NICU is very sick newborns.

CordaeP · Apr 19, 2012

Thank you all. No I do not want to take care of critical babies. I do not think my nerves will allow it. I can not stand for any of my children to be sick, so I know that I would not be able to deal with a little one on the brink of death and God forbid if one die on me. I do want to do LD.

allnurses Guide · Apr 19, 2012

You will still see infant death in L&D. Not frequently, but babies do still die at birth. You may also have to help deliver stillborns.

Search your soul hard. Your patients deserve someone who can keep it together.

FORTHELOVEOF!!!! · Apr 19, 2012

Very true

AgentBeast, MSN, RN · Apr 19, 2012

L&D is generally for mothers and well babies, but depending on the level of the OB facility you can have some seriously high risk patients. A lot of preterm births, with really really sick babies that get sent to the NICU right away.

The NICU is for really really really really sick babies. I'm talking kids that are slightly less than a pound in weight and so sick that if you even breath on the them wrong you are likely to kill them. Not an area for the faint of heart.

Patti_RN · Apr 20, 2012

My L&D clinical experience was in a regional women's hospital; many patients came from hundreds of miles away. It was not all joyful and bliss. In my short and very limited time there I saw a grief stricken couple lose their baby, another baby born with severe congenital defects who was rushed to the nearby children's hospital (the dad split his time between the worried mom who just had a C-section and visiting their son across town), and a bunch of other sad cases.

I have the utmost respect for those who work in L&D and the NICU. It takes a very special person to do either, and a very competent nurse, as well.

I can't count the number of women I've talked to who never had any desire to be a nurse until they experienced childbirth, or men who experienced it with their wives/ girlfriends. It was a joyful occasion for them; they saw the nurse coaching them through the process, standing beaming at their bundle of joy after she or he was born. What they didn't see was the nurse's life on the other side of the patient's door. Then, based on this very skewed, one-sided experience, they decide they want to have joyful, happy work days, skipping through the halls of L&D. I'm usually not this blunt, but it ain't what it looks like from your ringside seat in Labor and Delivery!

Not only that, but these are tough jobs to land, especially for a new inexperienced nurse. I wouldn't want a new grad taking care of me or my infant, especially if I were even slightly high risk. No, I take that back. I wouldn't want a new grad taking care of me and/ or my infant if we were low to average risk. Knowing what I do about L&D, it's not a job for the inexperienced. Things can go sour in seconds and it takes experience to deal with those problems. I wouldn't want a bad outcome to be in any way my fault. I know my limitations; I couldn't do it and I've been a nurse for years. I fully understand why very few new grads land these jobs, or are ever even interviewed for them. (I'm sure someone will respond that they were hired straight out of nursing school into L&D, but this is anecdotal information, not a usual experience.)

Sorry for the blunt, negative comment. It's typically not my style to discourage anyone from any dream they have. And, I'm not discouraging any student for making this a long-term goal, but the reality is it's not a likely job for a new grad.