I have been a nurse for almost nine months now and work in the NICU. This was my absolute dream job, and I worked so hard to land it. While I was on orientation I felt challenged as I was learning SO many new things. I have been off orientation for a while now and have have been stuck with feeder grower patients for over a month. My unit favors nurses with many many years experience and assigns them the sicker kids, daily. They are never given an intermediate assignment.
I am talking more about the nurses who have less than 2 years experience getting mostly the stable ICU cases and some intermediate patients. We are supposed to be mixed around the unit, with at least 30% ICU exposure. I have also (politely) asked my charge nurse to assign me anything ICU because I need the exposure. Usually I am given an excuse, and the next day I am back with the feeder growers. Managment likes me, and there has never been an issue with the care I have provided my patients. I don't understand. I am just about at my wits end with this matter. I did not go to school to be a daycare provider who rarely uses her brain. I understand that an intermediate case can shift quickly, but I need consistant exposure to vents, bcpap, umbilical lines etc to remain competent. Ugh!
The ego coming from the OP is absurd. You are only 9 months into your position, and you are acting as if you know it all. Obviously you do not, as you have not had higher acuity patients. If you act like you do on here with your coworkers and manager, I can see why you are being held back in taking more critical patients. If I were your manager, I would do the same thing; as you are implying that lower acuity patients is babysitting. Having had a child in the NICU that was premature but not high risk, I am insulted you would even imply it is babysitting. Get off that high horse of yours and realize that you are still fresh out of the gate and not even close enough to being a seasoned nurse. I do not care what you did pre nursing, as that does not equate to years on the job and knowing what to do with a critical child that a textbook and class notes can't teach you. You are exactly what seasoned nurses describe when they talk about the new sense of entitlement and know-it-all behavior; hint, this isn't a good thing. Your ego, belief you know it all, and condescending attitude, will harm a life one day. Please stop thinking you have learned it all, as it will cause detriment to your patients and to yourself.
I wonder how exhausted these managers are of being the revolving training ground for would be NNPs who grab their 2 years and run?
I'd probably keep my long term nurses in place as long as I could and gradually let out the line on the new grads who have proven likely to leave anyway.
Kudos to the manager who prioritizes their long term staff with earned scheduling.
Take a look around the forum at all the new nurses posting cries for help because they don't know how to manage the sheer weight and stress of their new job. They're up to their eyeballs in responsibility and they're scared. Here you come, not knowing how good you actually have it, and complain about not getting more critical cases. Why can't you just be content with what you have? Will you be paid more for getting the sick babies? I don't understand why you're mad about NOT having a hard job.
Do you realize how much you're inadvertently learning just from being in the environment that you're in? Learning from the more experienced nurses who know way more than you do? Why can't you appreciate that? Do you think the end of the line for you will stop at feeder-growers?
I'm in school now and one of my biggest fears is getting my first job and not being able to mentally handle all of the things I have to do at work. Most new nurses have to trudge through the stress for over a year until they feel comfortable at work, and you're over here complaining about work being easy.
Take a look around the forum at all the new nurses posting cries for help because they don't know how to manage the sheer weight and stress of their new job. They're up to their eyeballs in responsibility and they're scared. Here you come, not knowing how good you actually have it, and complain about not getting more critical cases. Why can't you just be content with what you have? Will you be paid more for getting the sick babies? I don't understand why you're mad about NOT having a hard job.
Do you realize how much you're inadvertently learning just from being in the environment that you're in? Learning from the more experienced nurses who know way more than you do? Why can't you appreciate that? Do you think the end of the line for you will stop at feeder-growers?
I'm in school now and one of my biggest fears is getting my first job and not being able to mentally handle all of the things I have to do at work. Most new nurses have to trudge through the stress for over a year until they feel comfortable at work, and you're over here complaining about work being easy.
Man...I hope I'm in your predicament one day.
your last statement said it all and was pretty close to my initial thought..."boy I wish, at my job, I had time to stop and smell the roses, or in this case, the babies"
Take a look around the forum at all the new nurses posting cries for help because they don't know how to manage the sheer weight and stress of their new job. They're up to their eyeballs in responsibility and they're scared. Here you come, not knowing how good you actually have it, and complain about not getting more critical cases. Why can't you just be content with what you have? Will you be paid more for getting the sick babies? I don't understand why you're mad about NOT having a hard job.
Do you realize how much you're inadvertently learning just from being in the environment that you're in? Learning from the more experienced nurses who know way more than you do? Why can't you appreciate that? Do you think the end of the line for you will stop at feeder-growers?
I'm in school now and one of my biggest fears is getting my first job and not being able to mentally handle all of the things I have to do at work. Most new nurses have to trudge through the stress for over a year until they feel comfortable at work, and you're over here complaining about work being easy.
Man...I hope I'm in your predicament one day.
your last statement said it all and was pretty close to my initial thought..."boy I wish, at my job, I had time to stop and smell the roses, or in this case, the babies"
your last statement said it all and was pretty close to my initial thought..."boy I wish, at my job, I had time to stop and smell the roses, or in this case, the babies"
I LOVE baby head smell! Intoxicating little things. If OP can wait two years, I'll gladly take that understimulating job off her hands.
Perhaps you failed to note how the original poster was rude and nasty to someone who took the time to answer her post and attempt to help her understand why she wasn't given more challenging assignments.
Ruby, read this posters last main post. You will get why she said that. And she is the biggest ageism person out there. She hates on those 40-60s nurses.
I LOVE baby head smell! Intoxicating little things. If OP can wait two years, I'll gladly take that understimulating job off her hands.
Oh don't be fooled. Some baby farts smell so bad, it would make a grown man faint.
But on those occasions where I do have time to cuddle, I love smelling their heads and letting their hands grab on to my fingers. And when those big eyes stare up at you...it is heartwarming.
OP seems to have flown the coop, but I'll answer for anyone else looking for guidance. Just a few thoughts:
1. As a PACU nurse right out of nursing school, it was very important for me to have a lot of "uncomplicated" cases during my orientation because I needed to hone my process and learn what normal looks like... and there's a HUGE range of normal. I had a preceptor who wanted me to take all critical patients so that I could get over my fears about them, but it was sort of useless until I had a good rhythm going and knew what I was looking for. Once I could get through a case without going crazy, I was ready to start tackling the complicated ones because the background process was comfortable. So I agree with OP's assessment that some more critical babies would be instructive... AND the replies that you can't care for the sick ones until you know how to really care for the relatively well ones.
2. I have been working for 4 years now, and there are still things I learn on every shift. A colleague retired last year after about 40 years as a nurse; she always said the day she didn't learn anything new would be her last day on the job! 9 months, with all due respect, is not a long time. You will see that after you reach a year, 2 years, 5 years. There is absolutely no substitute for experience: nursing experience.
3. I would encourage anyone in OP's position to a) take a breath and enjoy not having a death-defying job, and b) make sure you have advocates in your department that will bring you over to show you the "interesting" (read: critical) patients and what's going on with them. I was a student in my unit before I worked here, so my coworkers STILL call me over to show me things I may not have seen before. I love it! In PACU we see odd problems so rarely that there's a lot of show and tell...
Oh don't be fooled. Some baby farts smell so bad, it would make a grown man faint.
But on those occasions where I do have time to cuddle, I love smelling their heads and letting their hands grab on to my fingers. And when those big eyes stare up at you...it is heartwarming.
I work with infants now and believe me, I know just how stinky they can be!
You sound like you are really hoping to take care of some sicker babies.
I can tell you from experience that firstly getting along well with your nursing team will make you a shinier candidate to begin to work with sicker kids. After your stable babies are well cared for you could ask some of the nurses with sick kids if they need help. Pick up extra shifts and cover sick calls. Ask your unit director if there are any evidence based research topics you could look into for the unit. Focus on safety and safe medication administration. Happy, safe, helpful nurses get promoted. Even young ones, trust me. I know.
Managment likes me, and there has never been an issue with the care I have provided my patients. I don't understand. I am just about at my wits end with this matter. I did not go to school to be a daycare provider who rarely uses her brain. I understand that an intermediate case can shift quickly, but I need consistant exposure to vents, bcpap, umbilical lines etc to remain competent. 
CanadianAbroad
176 Posts
The ego coming from the OP is absurd. You are only 9 months into your position, and you are acting as if you know it all. Obviously you do not, as you have not had higher acuity patients. If you act like you do on here with your coworkers and manager, I can see why you are being held back in taking more critical patients. If I were your manager, I would do the same thing; as you are implying that lower acuity patients is babysitting. Having had a child in the NICU that was premature but not high risk, I am insulted you would even imply it is babysitting. Get off that high horse of yours and realize that you are still fresh out of the gate and not even close enough to being a seasoned nurse. I do not care what you did pre nursing, as that does not equate to years on the job and knowing what to do with a critical child that a textbook and class notes can't teach you. You are exactly what seasoned nurses describe when they talk about the new sense of entitlement and know-it-all behavior; hint, this isn't a good thing. Your ego, belief you know it all, and condescending attitude, will harm a life one day. Please stop thinking you have learned it all, as it will cause detriment to your patients and to yourself.