Looking for good NICU training for experienced RN

grlgid · Mar 4, 2007

I know the hospital I work at hires and trains you (a 12 week orientation with classes and a preceptor) but you have to sign a 2 year contract

Jme2007 · Mar 5, 2007

I also know of 2 good children's hospitals in LA and Orange County, Ca that offer a 28 week residency to new grad RN's. They will both take you for the NICU, PICU or OICU, as well as other floors. It is a thorough training program!

livtek · Mar 5, 2007

Can you please write the name of the hospitals, please.

I'm looking anywhere. I got CA license. I can start anytime. Do the take even not new graduates?

dumitra · Mar 5, 2007

I am in RN Residency doing my training in NICU. You are eligible if you haven't work as a RN after getting your license. I think it's better to call and talk to the nurse recruiter. There are always people who are willing to help. You never know.

Jme2007 · Mar 5, 2007

There is Children's Hospital Of Los Angeles (CHLA) and Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). They have new grad RN residencies as well as "fellowships for RN's who wish to be trained on a new floor. So, yes they take RN's that are not "new" as well. I hope this info helps you...Good luck

WDWpixieRN, RN · Aug 7, 2007

I know I'm resurrecting a thread that's a bit old, but I'm curious -- is there a disadvantage to working elsewhere upon graduation and then wanting to work NICU?

I'm halfway through my ADN program, so still a LOT torn about where I eventually want to work. I always thought the ED or NICU sounded most interesting to me, but wasn't sure I had the heart for NICU.

Reading this thread, it sounds like a lot of employers prefer training new grads rather than someone's who had experience elsewhere first -- is that usually the case?!?!?

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 7, 2007

The switch from other specialties to NICU is a major career change -- particularly switching from adult med/surg. A lot of people who make that switch feel uncomfortable for a year or so as they have to re-learn so many things. When they don't feel comfortable and are afraid they will make a mistake, they quit -- and the hospital has wasted it's valuable preceptor time and money on oriention costs for someone who didn't stick it out long enough to be worth the investment.

Similarly, there are people who want to come to NICU for only a short time to get some ICU experience or baby experience to meet a requirement for graduate school. They also leave so soon that they cost the hospital more in orientation costs than they are worth.

That's why many NICU prefer to reserve their big expensive training programs for new grads -- who are more likely to be interested in NICU as a long-term career choice. Once a new grad gets comfortable in NICU, they tend to stay in the field because they don't feel comfortable switching to other specialties.

So ... from a management point of view ... a new grad is more likely to be a good investment than someone with adult med/surg experience. That's why I never recommend that students interested in NICU "get a year of adult med/surg first" or anything like that.

WDWpixieRN, RN · Aug 7, 2007

llg:

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

I completed an internship in an ED this summer, and while I enjoyed the experience, I didn't come away KNOWING that that's where I want to go. I enjoyed the extreme teamwork among the staff and how well the MDs worked with them on a first-name basis (for the most part), but the staff themselves weren't very encouraging about a new grad RN starting there. Management and admin folks I talked to seemed VERY enthusiastic about our signing on there after graduation, however. This has me concerned that while I'd have management support, how would it be to work with folks who have no confidence in training a new grad? I'm the one who would be on the front line with them day-to-day. I already had a miserable time training with a tech there who was very picky about every little thing I did after I had worked with an RN for 6 weeks previously. It drove me nuts as she did some things contrary to the way I've been taught (reinserted the same indwelling foley tubing after I had missed with it). The staff got along great, but there was the usual "gossip" about how this one triaged, or that one did their job, etc. I know as the newbie, I'd be fodder for ages. At my advanced age, I'm not in to being "that person" for them for the next 2 years or so.

Are you aware of how likely it might be to do a shadow in NICU? We do a 3-week peds rotation, but I don't know that we go through the NICU. Obviously, the best way to find out is to call my local hospitals, so I may do so as the semester gets closer to break (December).

How do you know if you've got the stomach and heart for this position? I know in the ED, it just broke my heart to hear the little ones screaming and crying when we had to start IVs or even just change them when they were so frightened of the surroundings and being in a hospital!!

Thanks again!! Two semesters seems a long way away, but it'll be here before I know it, and I don't want to start out, or get stuck, in a place I'm not interested in and don't love. :icon_hug:

cherokeesummer · Aug 12, 2007

Thanks for asking this question, I wondered b/c so many times throughout nursing school I heard ppl say "get a year of med surg before you do anything". But I don't want med surg LOL! Yes the expriences would be good for me skill wise but I am confident that I want to remain in the NICU setting (I did my preceptorship there) and therefore those are the skills I hope to refine.

Some hospitals do not want to hire new grads but thankfully the one I applied to loves new grads so I got the job! I start next month Yay!

Love_2_Learn · Aug 13, 2007

Sometimes NICUs will stop hiring new grads for a little while when they have too many newbies and too few seasoned nurses. A good mix is necessary for mentoring the newbies.

Many, many years ago I asked my OB/Peds nursing instructor if I truly need to do one year of med-surg before going to work with babies. I told her that I have always wanted to be a pediatrics or neonatal nurse from when I was a child. I'll never forget what she said, "No, you do not absolutely have to have a year of med-surg before going to work with pediatric patients. This used to be true many years ago when a nurse would go do work and never know until she got there whether she would be working in the ER, OR, OB or a med-surg floor. Every area now is so specialized that you need to make a decision and embrace it. Besides that, I'd hate to see you force yourself through a year of med-surg and then end up hating nursing so much that you leave the profession before finding happiness in the area you want to work in." I love that lady! I took her advice and have been working with babies ever since; with absolutely no regrets!

JjoBsn · Aug 22, 2010

Hi Cherokeesummer,

I know this is an old post, but which hospital did you apply to?