for all neo nurses!

I do get attached to my babies, and I am always sad when one of them has a poor outcome.... But death in the unit is not as common as a lot of people think, and when it does happen, there is usually a very good reason. I think that death is more merciful than allowing a baby to suffer when it has no hope of a meaningful recovery.

I'm not a neo nurse, but I want to say that I admire your enthusiasm and conviction (and at such a young age!!:) ). Go with your heart. I'm 23 years old and I work in oncology, and plan to go to hospice very soon. Both are very "emotional" areas of nursing, but then again, I can't think of one area of nursing where there aren't emotions inolved. Best wishes...here's to making your dreams come true! :kiss

I am not a NICU nurse, I am a OB nurse working with Moms that are pregnant and having problems. It can be very sad and emotional when there is not a good outcome but with out emotions and feeling what kind of nurses would we be ????? I also can speak from the other side ................ My sister had a baby that lived for 6 months, half of that time was spent in the NICU. having the support of the staff helped get us through. Contact your local hospitals and Childrens Hosp to see if they have volunteer situations such as a "HUGGER" and what else might be available to expose you to this area of medicine .......................... GOOD LUCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a NICU nurse and although it is sad when we lose a baby (mostly for the parents) I cannot think of one single time that it was not better than the alternative -- watching the babies suffer is a whole lot harder than seeing death finally take them.

By the way, I was about your age when I decided that I wanted to be a NICU nurse and people told me the same things...don't worry about them, just follow your heart.

To this day, when I tell people what I do I get one of two responses:

1 - Ooh, it must be fun to play with babies all day --- yeah, right...

2 - Ooh, that is so sad, I don't see how you can do that --- I consider it a very happy specialty. Even though some babies don't make it, the vast majority get to go home.