need help on deciding my major

Mommy2NQ · Feb 21, 2009

You can always become a RN and specialize in the NICU or pediatrics. I don't think you would have to see anyone cut open but I am positive during nursing school you will see some blood.

jjjoy, LPN · Feb 21, 2009

Just remember that if a job is that easy and enviable, it probably doesn't pay well and/or is very difficult to land a job in. You say you're intersted in "Working with infants" - that is a bit broad, so maybe you can begin to research different types of jobs that work with infants. Nursing involves a diverse range of skills (hands on skills, medical knowledge, dealing with anxious patients/families, juggling more than one patient at a time, etc) and high levels of responsiblity in addition to the opportunity to work closely next to the miracle of life and human connection.

There are several different roles a nurse might have with infants.

There's neonatal intensive care, where you work with very sick newborns, ones with machines breathing for them and the like - no "playing with the babies" there. In fact, all attempts are made to minimize touching preemies because it's overstimulating to them. The babies are closely monitored and demand quick thinking and response if they suddenly get worse.

A general pediatric nurse in a hospital might work with older infants but are more likely to work with a broad range of older children (toddler up to adolescent). These are sick or injured kids... in pain, scared, with anxious parents.

A nurse who works "post-partum" (right after the baby is born) takes care of both the mother and the baby. Actually, they often take care of about 4 - 5 mother-baby couplets. Most moms and babies are discharged within 72 hours of birth. So even here, you're not spending much time exclusively with infants. This is a popular area of nursing because unlike many areas of nursing, the majority of patients are young and healthy.

I think there are some physical therapists and occupational therapists that work with infants who have health issues or disabilities. I imagine it's a specialty area that may be hard to break into since there isn't that big a demand for this type of work and many people would prefer to work with infants. Compare this to a greater demand for therapists working with geriatric stroke patients or the like.

For any of these areas, know that the foundational training is built around caring for adults. You'd likely have one or two courses focused on pediatrics and maternity, but the bulk of the training (for two or three years) would be with adults. Just so you know.

I hope this doesn't sound discouraging! It's just that the reality of the work world can be very different than what one imagines as a student. Therefore, I highly recommend you look into volunteer opportunities at your local hospital. Tell them what your goals are and they might be able to give you suggestions about where to volunteer. Volunteers usually aren't involved in direct patient care. They may help stock supplies or the like. But being there, seeing the environment first hand and interacting with the staff can give you a taste of the field and might guide you in your choice of major.

javawren_23 · Feb 21, 2009

You will definitely see blood in clinicals. Also, landing a job in OB can be challenging and usually hospitals want you to have some general experience before you specialize. Are you sure that nursing is a fit? If you love infants, what about going for early childhood and going into child care?

MissBehavin · Feb 21, 2009

I think it really comes down to what you want to do with infants. Perhaps you want to run or work for a daycare. You could be a nanny and advertise that you especially love infants. A nurse in the NyICU is a good fit if you want to help sick and premature babies. There are a couple of jobs in some hospitals where you just work in their nursery (but rare, and you usually rotate between that and couplet care). However nursing school is long and you do have to rotate through other areas, and see blood. You may be surprised at how you handle it, when you know it is to help someone.

Perhaps early childhood develompment or psych and work in the hospital as "chid life". In my hospital the child life specialist runs playrooms for sick children (from 1yr-17yrs), talks to them about their illness, family, and feelings. Although this does include speaking with children whose parents have just died while in the hospital. There are not a lot of jobs dealing with such a specific age range, but if you broaden it slighlty I think your possibilities will be endless. If you do choose the nursing or medicine route it is always rewarding. and there are advanced practice areas (ex. Neonatal nurse practitioner).

Good luck and let us know of your future plans.

tnasmj09 · Feb 21, 2009

well it may not be the blood that bothers me as much. actually i used to be terrified of needles. but i am expecting a baby and they have had to draw blood a couple times and it doesnt bother me. i guess conquering my fears is something i could do. now i aint to sure i would love to cut people open and do the surgery stuff. what exactly is involved in being a RN? Also i looked up being a ultrasound tech. I was doing research and ran across it and it says you can specialize in OBGYN working with pregnant women. so in a way i guess that would be working with infants. but i aint sure how to get into i dont know many colleges offering it around me. i would love to work in the nicu and help those infants i think it would be very rewarding. so can you please tell me whats involved in becomming a RN? if i do become a RN what other departments would the hospital most likely be sending me to or would i stay in the NICU?

April, RN, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2009

Nursing school is a lot of work and is very time consuming. If an RN is what you want to be, then the hard work is worth it. Nursing school requires a year or two of prerequisite classes like anatomy, chemistry, and psychology. Once all those are completed, you do two years of classes and clinicals (hospital time) for an associates degree or four years of school for a bachelors degree. Have you talked to your guidance counselor at school? They might be able to help answer your questions about school.

Can you shadow a NICU nurse at your local hospital? That would be a good way for you to get an idea of what a nurse does. In most departments in the hospital, you will be dealing will blood, poop, vomit, infected wounds, etc. You will see a lot of this even in areas with infants like L&D and NICU. You get used to it though. Another thing to think about, babies in the NICU are very sick and are on all kinds of breathing machines, monitors, feeding tubes, and IVs. They don't always live and that's a very sad thing that nurses have to deal with and help the families deal with. I just want to make sure you are aware of the hard parts of nursing as well as the good, rewarding side!

tnasmj09 · Feb 21, 2009

thank you for the advice. i am going to look into being an RN. Might just have to get used to some things but I am going to talk to some people at the local hospitals and see if i can kind of see what and all i am going to have to deal with. so how many years would i be in schooling exactly? and do i have to specialize in NICU

April, RN, BSN, RN · Feb 23, 2009

For a bachelor's degree, it will be 4 years of full time school but some people need to take an extra year or so to finish because it is a lot of work. You don't specialize in school. Once you graduate and pass the RN boards, you apply to jobs in areas that you are interested in.