Materials for learning NICU care

[1287PennEMT]

So, I'm in my last semester of a BSN, and my final clinical is in our Neuro/Trauma Surgical ICU. I'm really, really excited about going there...and I'd also love to be asked to stay on after graduation. I really want to hit the ground running and make a good impression.

Here's a description of the unit:

We care for patients with subarachnoid hemorrhages, arterial venous malformations, epidural hematomas, subdural hematomas, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, brain tumors, hepatic failure, liver transplants, and multisystem trauma patients. Technologies include critical care monitoring including but not limited to hemodynamic monitoring, intracranial pressure /oxygenation monitoring, mechanical ventilation, continuous dialysis (CRRT).

This Neurosurgery/Neurology/Liver Transplant has a 14-monitored patient care beds. Our professional patient care team consists of RNs who may be certified in BLS, ACLS, Critical Care, Trauma, and NIHSS stroke certified, CNAs, Secretaries, and Support Associate. Your typical patient care day ranges from 8 to 12 hours. The ratio of patients to nurse is 2:1.

I've been an ED Tech in a Level I Trauma center so I've been exposed to some critical care interventions, but I want to know if anyone has some good places (websites, books, etc.) where I could make myself more familiar with care specific to this unit.

Thanks!

Edit: I've been looking through the stickied resource thread, just trying to find a good compilation of nursing-duty specific information

[labman]

here are two sites that I found helpful one is

http://www.neuroland.com/- I would go under index and see what you can find

Also too

http://www.waiting.com/ (good site helped me deal with families)

Also too I think under the top two forums there is a lot of websites dedicated to neruo

http://www.icufaqs.org/ (A good general ICU site I loved it)

Good luck with your internship and hope these help