Need advice about how to get into NICU

NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN · Aug 25, 2003

Hi, Marnie! Welcome to the forum!

I think that there are a number of things you can do to make yourself more marketable for the NICU. You're right; IMO, the refresher courses are really geared towards adult nursing, and would have little benefit (although any education is good, but I feel that there are other things you could do to help you in a better way).

First of all, investigate all of the hospitals in the area you want to work and see if any of them offer neonatal or pediatric internships. Many places have these not just for new grads but nurses who are attempting to transition into the nursery or peds and have been working with adults. You may find a place willing to intern or train you. If you have a children's hospital nearby, try there, for sure- it seems to me that the established children's hospitals (vs. those that are just a ward within a larger hospital) tend to have better internships, as do teaching hospitals that are affiliated with a university/medical school.

There are certification courses that you can take as well that would REALLY look good to a potential employer- the first one is the NRP class (Neonatal Resuscitation Program, by the American Heart Association) and the second is S.T.A.B.L.E. Baby (I'm sorry; I don't know who puts that on, but you can find info on the internet about it). Both of these are like BLS/CPR for babies, but more intensive (like advanced resuscitation and stabilization for infants). Having one or both of these certifications would imply that you are quite serious about moving to the NICU, IMO.

I would also purchase a textbook on neonatal intensive care, such as the Merenstein/Gardner book that everyone recommends on here and study that and begin learning about what goes on on the unit and what types of babies you'll be working with, etc.

They may not want to start you off immediately in the NICU, and may suggest that you try Well Baby first, to which I say GO FOR IT! It would be a fantastic way to introduce you to caring for infants and learning how to stabilize and treat healthy babies, which is the first step (Remember nursing school? You first learned what was NORMAL so you could recognize what is abnormal...same principle.).

Lastly, off the top of my head, I'd suggest that instead of only speaking with nurse recruiters that you actually try to contact the nursing administrator for the floor that you're considering. They could be of more help to you, as far as directing you with your re-education and letting you know what the chances are of you being hired on the unit after your absence.

Is your license still current? Does the state you live in require you (the state board) to take a refresher course if you've been away from nursing for that long?

marnie · Aug 26, 2003

Hi NICU_Nurse!

Thanks for your great advice! I will definitely call the hospitals in this area and ask about internships, and I'll also try to get in touch with the nurse administrators directly to see if they can give me some guidance. I can't find a S.T.A.B.L.E. Baby course in my state, but I signed up for the NRP course. Also, I've taken some CEUs on-line that are NICU-related. And I'm going to buy the textbook you recommended.

My license is still current, and the Nursing Board here (in NJ) doesn't require a refresher course after a period of time away from the field-it is left up to each hospital to make its own rules about that.

Thanks again for your input, and thanks for the welcome to the forum. You've given me enough information to keep me busy for a while! I really appreciate it. This is a great site. I'll be checking back here a lot!

NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN · Aug 26, 2003

Marnie,

If you're looking for NICU-related CEU's and are willing to pay for them (they're inexpensive- about 7$ for 1.5 hours; each section is worth 1.5 hours), try http://www.emedicine.com . You can read the articles and research for free, then pay if you want the CEU's. The tests are relatively short and very helpful, and you can keep trying until you get it right, so there's room to learn without losing your money if you find a particularly hard section.

They have a TON of neonatal and pediatric CEU's- enough to keep you busy, for sure! According to my state continuing education guidelines, if I did the minimum my state requires, I could use their site for YEARS to help fulfill my requirement (but I've done a lot more than I needed, just to keep learning, you know?).

Keep us updated, and let us know if there are any more questions you have! Good luck!! :)

marnie · Aug 26, 2003

Thanks! That site has lots of info and the CEUs are a lot less expensive than some other sites I've seen.

I called the human resources dept of a local hospital to see if I could set up an appointment with the admin of the NICU-just for information, not about a specific job. I'm not sure if that is the correct way to go about contacting the nursing administrator? But the woman in HR was very nice and said she would forward my resume and phone number to the right person, and would ask her to call me to discuss my questions. They aren't hiring right now, but the NICU is being renovated and expanded, so there may be openings in the future.

In the meantime, I'll keep trying to learn as much as possible. Thanks for your help!

rcmd/nicu · Jun 21, 2004

Hello all you experienced NICU nurses! I'm looking for some advice...I worked for a year on a med/surg unit (and didn't really care for it!), then took four years off. Now I want to return to nursing, but not caring for adults! I loved the NICU when I was in school, and I would really like to work in that area. A nurse recruiter told me to take a refresher course before applying for any jobs, but after reading some of the posts here, it sounds like that wouldn't be of any help. Wouldn't a refresher course be geared towards med/surg? Does anyone have any advice about how I can prepare to work in the NICU? Do I have any chance with my background?

Hi--I have worked NICU for years. I was trained by the hospital I was working in--because its NICU was growing and they needed new staff. That was 20+ years ago. Now they occasionally have training programs which last for several weeks and include lots of classroom lecture and clinical with a preceptor. We get nurses from med/surg, or ICU, or psych, psotpartum who want to make a change in their specialty and sometimes nurses from outside the hospital who have worked in other specialties. Do you have your BSN already? If not and you were to return to school for your BSN, usually you do a senior clinical in which you pick a specialty you want to work in. then you get weeks of preceptorship in a unit--hopefully a unit which will hire you (probably onto night shift) after you are done with your training. Check out the local free Nursing newspaper for your state. In California, it is called Nurseweek and employers list jobs in it. If a hospital is expanding their NICU--and moving from a level 2 to a level 3 NICU--they might have a training program happening as well. Good luck.

prmenrs, RN · Jun 21, 2004

You are definitely heading in the right direction! There are 2 professional organizations: Academy of Neonatal Nurses and National Assoc of Neo Nurses. ANN publishes Neonatal Network, a well established journal with cont ed in each issue. (There used to be only one Assoc, but they got a divorce) Anyway, look into these. They both have conferences, you can learn a lot and network. NANN has local chapters--look yours up on their site. That would be less $$ to join and you can get some info as well as network if you start going to their chapter meetings. The one where I live has an annual one day conference and usually has a presentation @ the meetings.

Good luck! You seem quite motivated, I think you will do well.

Mimi2RN, ASN, RN · Jun 21, 2004

Our new staff have 6 months to take the NALS class. They are expected to attend several deliveries and c/s before taking it. I'd wait on that one, but the STABLE baby class is a good idea.