AnnieOaklyRN

Just what the title says! Why are NICU nurses so toxic and mean?! I just started four weeks ago and have had the WORST orientation I have ever had in my 20 years of nursing! I have a preceptor that values her free time as social time instead of teaching me and has been irritable with me from day two when I started doing hands on. They were well aware that I was coming in as an experienced nurse, but one that has not done bedside nursing in 13 years and no prior NICU/Pedi experience. She showed her frustration with me right away, without any explanation as to why, or additional teaching. Instead of teaching me during cares and charting , she was off socializing with her bestie in another room and audibly laughing at some questions I had asked, like not knowing what a CMV swab was for. During cares, when she was actually there, all I got was eye roles and sighs instead of explaining what I am doing incorrectly or letting me know what she would have done or how she would have handled time management. If I was late with something it was more sighs and "now you're late, you need to hurry" which just got me even more flustered and anxious. It would have been more effective if she told me after the fact how she would handle the constantly screaming baby in one room that was due for cares at 8, cares were done but he would take FOREVER (full 30 minutes and still need some tubed) and not settle and she wouldn't help me by holding him while I did cares for the other two who were due at 8 and 830. That would have been MUCH more beneficial than the constant eye rolling and condescending verbiage. She tells me to start cares as early as I need so that I can get feeds on time (within reason) so I wanted to start unhappy baby's cares at least 20 minutes early so I could do my assessment, just like she said, but then she says no that's too early to start them and then I am late with my other cares because of waiting for meds. That's after I ask her how soon I should ask for a certain medication we need for 8 o'clock cares that will need to come from pharmacy, I asked her should I ask for the meds now (25 minutes prior to cares) she says "no, it only takes them 5-10 minutes to bring them up". I go to the floor pharmacist when she says to and ask her, she is mad because she said she would have appreciated at least a 20 minutes warning so she could plan ahead. The constant snapping at me during cares for every little thing just got me more flustered and anxious making it hard to focus. I am honestly getting teary eyed writing this because I am so traumatized by the last few weeks! Keep in mind I am new to NICU and have never had children, so the baby stuff is all new. I asked her early on if I could take a day to learn the unit and where stuff is and focus on one baby just so I could really focus in on doing a solid head to toe exam, learning feeding techniques, tube feeds and most of all the relentless charting so I would have time to process what I was doing, she of course said no to that. Then when I would try to focus and look at the chart and process everything she would pull me away to do something else, same if I was in the midst of planning things and grabbing milk she would interrupt me and tell me I needed to start cares when I was already doing so! I have ADHD so every freaking interruption means I have to think and figure out my thought process all over again! She would also tell me to do one thing and then I would do it next shift and she would tell me it's wrong! On top of it when I was following her around to get certain things she would make faces at co workers who would make faces back, as if I am not even there and interpreting them! The other team members don't even smile at me or acknowledge my Meer existence, it's so childish, except for maybe a couple that are grownups! She was great at teaching me "tasks" to do when she felt like it, but not explaining the why and how part! I asked the nurse educator ahead of time if she had any recommendations for learning ahead of time since I had two months before starting.... her answer was no. So they are getting frustrated with me caring for these babies right from the get go without ANY knowledge. I don't start the actual NICU didactic stuff or modules for another two months! The babies are adorable, but I cannot even imagine having to work this job long term! Between the toxic work culture, the irritable parents, and the screaming babies (which I understand are telling u they are uncomfortable and need something, and I love to hold and comfort them, but I feel like this job does not allow time for that). I just honestly hate the NICU and I am glad I tried it, and I thought I would love it, but it's nothing that I want in a job and I look forward to finding a new job. I solidly regret giving up my previous job, thinking the grass was greener... It's not, it's brown and covered in baby poo! Just a message to you NICU nurse dreamers out there.... If you go to your interview and they let you in and don't even say hi or crack a smile or anything, take that as a red flag on the culture of the unit (I wish I had backed out then)! It's NOT less stressful then adult care, if anything its far more stressful between the personalities and the strict care times and the over tired parents and babies that cannot tell you what they need except for crying. Make sure you shadow for at least two hours minimum, and make sure it's with feed/growers and during the day so you get an idea of how busy the day will be! I shadowed a nurse at night and she had two CPAP babies so I got the idea that the NICU was going to be much less overstimulating then working elsewhere in the hospital, IT'S NOT, it's worse in my opinion! Anyway, just mainly a vent and a word of caution for others considering a move...

Hi So I started a week ago in a NICU which is what I thought was my "dream job". Anyway after this week I am like meh... it's not that great, but I am also experiencing a lot of stress related to all the information overload I am receiving. I am tryin to differentiate between deciding it's not for me vs. I am just hating it now because of all the added stress related to learning the new role! Any experience you can share or knowledge would be helpful! I will give it some more time, but just wondering about other peoples' experiences! I am not a huge fan of the constant crying etc either and trying to dress a baby that is frustrated and hungry isn't a walk I the park, especially since I never had kids myself. Thank you in advance!

Thank you for the responses! I emailed her at the beginning of the week and thanked her for giving me the position (the competition is always fierce when NICU spots open up, there was even someone external WITH NICU experience that applied and interviewed, so I thought I was screwed!). Anyway, I also asked about the vacation week and she was fine with it and told me to just remind her when I start the job! I am so excited to be able to go to my nieces high school graduation, I missed my older nieces because I got Norovirus the first night my family came into town and spent the week in my bed and in the bathroom, it sucked, so I really don't want to miss out on this one! Have a good day everyone!

Hi all, So I very happily FINALLY got a NICU RN job after many years of trying. Anyway, I had a planed vacation first week in June for family coming into town and my niece's graduation. This is an internal transfer and my current manager and new manager decided on a start date first week of May, so I will likely still be on orientation anyway and will not count as a staff member. I am SUPER EXCITED about this job and if they won't let me have it off, I will just do what I can to work around it as far as spending time with family. Anyway, my question is when should I ask the nurse manager if I can still have it off? I thought about emailing her and just saying thank you for the job and I look forward to starting etc, would that be a good time or should I ask in person? My current job allows me to travel all over the hospital so it's not a huge deal if it's something you think I should ask in person before I even start in a couple months. Please let me know your thoughts and opinions, thank you!

As far as EMS we are no longer placing collars on patients unless they have midline tenderness in their neck or are complaining of numbness tingling in extremities or they have midline pain with movement from side to side. C- collars have been shown to do more damage than good in most cases and are over applied, and can actually CAUSE neck pain. The exception to the above is age over 65 with mech of injury or someone who has altered mental status/dementia or someone with a distracting injury (fracture of a limb or other moderately painful injury). Obviously follow your hospital's policy and use your own clinical judgement based on each individual, and when in doubt talk to a provider about it.

OP, if you really want to do hospital pediatrics as a CNA then just look for openings and apply, you will. likely be stuck on nights though to start. Also if you want to work as a nurse eventually in hospital pediatrics, I would for sure skip the LPN route, as most hospitals do not hire LPNs and the ones that do really limit your scope. I would go right for the RN if you goal is to become a pedi nurse! Best of luck!

I would skip the PALS because that is not in the scope of practice of a CNA and would be a waste of money. I would also skip med terminology that someone else suggested. They aren't expecting a CNA to understand the more medical stuff per se, so again I would think that would be a waste of money.

As a student or when you are a nurse, NEVER administer any medication that you didn't open or prepare (with the exception of labeled medication from the pharmacy)! This is asking for a medication error!

I know I am late, and maybe you already got a NICU job. It's really hard to get a NICU job to begin with, but I don't think most will hire you without a BSN. CA is overloaded with BSN new grads looking to get into NICU, so you have little to no chance at it in my opinion. I would finish your BSN and then start applying again in CA. I live on the East coast and it has taken me 18 years to get into the NICU and it only happened once I got my foot in the door at the hospital working in another area. Best of luck if you are still trying! Don't give up!

JUST AN UPDATE; I went for it and got the job offer today!! Eek, I am both excited and nervous!! I am going to do my best to get through my time on night *** and hopefully I can figure out a routine that will allow me to get the best sleep! It's a unit I see myself as a lifer on until retirement in 18 years, so that helps! It will also open doors because I have always wanted to become an NNP, now I will get the experience and decide if that's the masters route I want to take! Thanks for the advice!

Hi all, I finally applied for a NICU position at my hospital, it will be night shift which is dreadful, but the manager said it hopefully won't be for too long. She actually uses hospital seniority to decide who gets the next day shift and not unit seniority. She also said many of her night shift nurses actually want to stay on night shift, which I cannot grasp, but to each their own! ? Anyway, the point of this post is to ask for any tips for my NICU shadow that is next week. I already interviewed with the nurse manager and will interview and shadow night shift from 7pm until 9pm. I am guessing they may ask if I like nights shifts and if they do how should I answer? I don't want to lie and say I love night shift, but I also don't want to tell them how much I truly hate night shift. Also any other etiquette I should know? I do work at this hospital already as an RN. Thanks for any tips! Annie

You called out sick from work and then went to a wedding and you think it's unfair that they fired you?! I hope you do some introspection before applying for new jobs!!

No one is going to pay an RN to drive a bus/truck whatever, that would be an VERY usual job!

I will preface this by saying I am not a lawyer, so this is just advice based on my own work experience, and you would need to consult with a lawyer to know how to navigate the legalities of this issue. Is this person her own guardian, or does someone else have guardianship. If she is her own guardian, then this will be a tricky situation, as she has the right to refuse as long as you can document that she is A and Ox4 and understands the consequences of not allowing treatment for hypoglycemia and glucose monitoring etc. If it's a situation where her sugar is high or normal and she won't allow access to her numbers, and she is her own person, then you would likely need to involve a lawyer and figure out if you can even do anything, Also I think calling 911 when she is hypoglycemic is the correct thing to do from the information you have provided. Unfortunately if she is her own person and understands the risks and benefits, then I think your hands will be tied. Again, I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, I do suggest you reach out to the company's lawyer and figure out the legalities of the situation and assess whether maybe she does need a guardian. Best of luck.

That is totally up to you, what population do you prefer? What are your career goals?