Male Nurses in Neonatal

[bigq2000]

Thoughts of going to nursing school have been weighing heavy on my mind for the past few weeks. I will graduate with a bachelors degree in management next year. I have been researching several Accelerated BSN programs for people with 4 year degrees. My question is "Are there male nurses that work in neonatal units?" I am not sure what specialty I would like to choose but I do like working with children. My sister was born 4 months premature and I spent many days visiting her in the NICU. That is where I get my interest from. If you have any advice for a male entering the nursing world, that would be greatly appreciated as well.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

aviator411, your post was quite inspiring and direct and I appreciated the mix! I was pretty sure the NICU culture had evolved in such a direction since the time I was in one and it has not deterred me yet. Regardless, I guess I always knew since I was younger that I wanted to work with babies, but life took me in a whole different direction and at this point in my life I seem to be coming full circle. As an older stduent, I am ready to embrace any possibilities, including the changes that have occurred in the NICU world. If they end up changing my mind and direction later, then that is what has to happen, but I always need to try it out.

I have identified NICU as my main area of interest but of course while I am in nursing school I might very well identify another area in which my passion lies, and I am open to that. I currently volunteer @ a community hospital that no longer has a pediatric unit, they just have a birthcare center which is actually not very active at all times. I am bummed by that, but sticking around to gain the hospital experience especially since where I live my hospital options are limited. I'm currently preparing to apply to nursing school in a few months to start next year (want to move back to NYC where I am from, I am now in FL). I just finished prereqs for most schools I am applying to and this fall will take 2 courses that are unique prereqs for 2 of these schools. I am actually more excited about this career direction than I ever was about law, but when I put things into perspective I realize things happen when they do for a reason.

Yes my plan has been to merge both my careers into one. I have yet to see in what capacity that will happen but I am sure in the long run it will happen nicely. For right now, becoming a nurse and being the best one I can be is all I can think of doing right now.

THANKS again for your kind advice, I will be sure to keep in touch!

[aviator411, RN]

Paco,

As you and I learned long ago, there are two sides to every coin. Glad I have not discouraged you, perhapes even strengthened your resolve to make it an enjoyable adventure, prepared with some realism.

I wish you the best with nursing school; I have no doubt you will get accepted somewhere. I did a similar thing. Retired in '07 and did a 12 month second career BSN program here in Michigan. I'm working on a master's now for FNP as well as OHN (Occupational Health Nursing). The OHN part of the program came with a NIOSH grant which covers much of my school costs. So I have yet to actually work as a nurse but am very excited about doing so. Gotta have something to do for the next 50 - 60 years. LOL!

I think the most engaging courswork I've encountered in my nursing education so far was my public health undergrad course & clinical and my graduate course in healthcare policy strategy. Both courses focused my attention on the health of populations, not just individual patients, and gave me a different mindset on the nursing profession. With your background in law I'm sure you'll discover, if you haven't already, that we have a lot of great clinical people in nursing but a dearth of people willing to engage the political system as needed to optimize the effectiveness of the nursing profession. There tends to be a mindset in the profession that we are mere pawns in the grand political scheme about which we can do little. Too few nursing schools are making their students aware that they are joining the largest group of health care providers in the world and that we have enormous potential impact upon our own destiny and that of our patients if we will get organized and exert our influence upon the system. During my graduate healthcare policy strategy class I learned that many politicians, like much of society, have such enormous respect for our profession that they will often go out of their way to satisfy our requests, sometimes without even being asked to do so. I encountered examples where such things had actually happened during this course. One senator, when visited by a small group of nurses from his district, actually said to his aid, "What can we do for these nurses? Let's see what we can do to help them." With your legal background, I predict that you will find enormous opportunity to influence the impact of our profession to the betterment of the healthcare system and the patients for whom we provide care. You'll recognize these opportunities when you see them.

Again best of luck. Thanks for your dedication and enthusiasm. I guarantee you will not regret your decision. Let me know if I can ever be of any help.

[babyNP., APRN]

Aviator, I'm not sure how a baby's conception-->delivery's history is relevant to whether or not they should be given appropriate care or be treated differently from any other baby in your stated "moral societal dilemma."

Everyone deserves healthcare, but especially our most vulnerable.

[aviator411, RN]

Hi babyRN,

I too am unsure how the irresponsible/criminal behavior of a baby's parents is relevent to whether or not a baby should receive care which differs from the care of any other baby. I certainly did not suggest such. The moral societal dilemma is not the care of the baby, it is the behavior of the parents and the manner and extent to which we as a society condone, allow and even encourage it. We as a society have made the birthing of babies by irresponsible parents who often choose of their own volition to subject their fetuses to lethal and known damaging circumstances a "growth industry". The first time a parent(s) does this, it is the parents' fault in my opinion. Each subsequent time it happens, it is the fault of we as a society at large, in my opinion. We have the means to prevent subsequent occurrences but there isn't a politician in congress responsible enough to even consider doing what needs to be done to prevent this abuse upon the unborn.These people do not meet my minimum criteria to be called "parents". What do you think should be done about parents who knowingly damage their children from before the moment of conception? That is the moral societal dilemma to which I refer. If we as taxpayers are going to pay for the care of children of irresponsible parents then there need to be consequences for such irresponsible behavior, including compulsary prevention. Caring for these often abused babies is and should be inspiring work. But preventing such abuse to begin with should be our focus (again, in my opinion). We as a society are NOT taking this issue seriously. And, by the way, the parents of many of these babies are present in the US in violation of state and federal laws at taxpayer expense (fact not opinion), something which neither major political party seems to be the least bit concerned about.

Thanks for your coments; we welcome your thoughts.

[babyNP., APRN]

I say--cut the red tape in adoption and yeah, let families adopt these kids. I couldn't tell you the criteria, but yes, it should be stricter.

I think what wastes an enormous amount of more money than the situation you described are from parents who want to keep their dead babies alive...I think it's a horribly cruel punishment to keep a brain dead baby alive through a trach/g-tube when they won't move or think for their entire lives. Or escalating care on a kid who is already going to die. It's tantamount to society's fear of "killing grandma" and trying to keep her alive no matter what, even if her quality of life is nothing. Grandma and these types of babies have NO dignity when they die, but instead, are pumped with drugs and have pain inflicted upon them, for the benefit of OTHER people feeling better about themselves. I find that incredibly selfish, not to mention the financial waste.

edit: wow, that was sort of a large tangent. Apologies...I guess I get a little carried away sometimes. Just saw one of my primaries go recently after they had a long battle that drawn out and the parents refused to come in, but also refused to take off support...

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

I agree, babyRN.

[aviator411, RN]

babyRN,

Thanks for your response. It doesn't appear that there is much we would disagree on. And, please, no need for the apologies. Your observations here have great value for all, especially the many readers who aspire to NICU work. You have just, of course, identified two more of the many moral societal dilemmas present in the NICU.

To carry one of your examples a step or two further: Several NICU RNs I know who have 40+ years experience in the specialty now question the merit of much of the work they have done over the decades when they are out in public and see some of the patients they have helped "rescue" being carted around in a semi-vegetative state by aging parents. At some point, sooner or later, someone will be called upon to account for the cost vs benefit to society of such cases, both in terms of dollars and human anguish.

Of course, for every case like those above, there are the wonderful success stories which inspire people like yourself and Paco396 to seek NICU work. Like society at large, I am inspired by your dedication and very hard work. Getting back to the point of my original remarks to Paco396, I simply had hoped to call attention to readers here that we in nursing generally have enormous respect and credibility with the general public, news media and legislators, much more so than many of us realize and, being the largest of all healthcare professions, there are enormous opportunities for us collectively to impact all of these moral societal dilemmas if we will only organize ourselves to confront the task. Those who bring specialized experience and training to nursing such as Paco396's legal background should be in a particularly advantageous position to contribute in this area. Of all the things which inspire people to become nurses, political advocacy must surely be very near the bottom of the list. I would hope, however, that professionals like yourself who experience some of the frustrations you have just cited can be inspired to invest some of their time and hard-earned experience in attacking the root causes of some of the many moral societal dilemmas which impact us all.

Thanks so very much for your comments!

[aviator411, RN]

babyRN:

Oh by the way. I neglected to mention that it was a close affiliation with many fine NICU nurses like yourself which inspired me to become a nurse. At age 63. NICU work will probably not happen for me but there is a place in nursing for all to contribute.

Thanks again!

[babyNP., APRN]

Congratulations on becoming a nurse :)

Unfortunately, I've found that a lot of society has a deep fear of the unknown, i.e. death, and it's hard to sway them otherwise when thinking about patient her/himself. My grandma was life long type 1 diabetes, stroked out at the age of 68 and my dad and uncle (ICU and OR RNs respectively) convinced my grandpa to let her go. It was very peaceful with my whole family gathered around her after the doctor took out the ETT and we sang one of her favorite hymns. I wish more people could see something like this instead of the codes that are run on elderly folk, which break their ribs and have their bodies exposed.

How to get people to see this? I don't know...I remember (not to get political) awhile back during the health care debate that it was extremely controversial to add a component to the mature adult health exam to ask about their end-of-life wishes. Not to encourage people one way or the other, but to help people clarify what they want.

I think the general movement to help solve a piece of this issue is to keep talking about it with the general public. I talk to my friends about it, my family, my husband, whoever shows an interest.

there's no easy solution unfortunately...