New Nursing student - doing some research!

[BACKDROPsilhouette]

Hello all!

I'm 17 years old and I was just accepted into a nursing program. I'm doing Nursing because I want to work in the NICU really badly, but trying to figure out where to start and how to go about getting a job in the NICU is a little overwhelming. I'm just not sure where to search and I've been getting largely different answers from different websites. Some places said I'd need to have three years experience in being an RN before going into an NICU, others say you can get into an ICU from graduation. I'm just so confused! So I figured it would probably do me well to just ask the people that have the experience with Neonatal, rather than trusting somebody who just wrote an article or a payscale website with tiny descriptions. Here's a few questions that I was wanting answered the most.

1. Is an ADN good enough to work for NICU? Or should I go for a Bachelor's Degree? I could do either, though I'm currently in an ADN program. I'm 17 years old, I can definitely do a Bachelor's online at some point!

2. What's the difference between a Neonatal Nurse and a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner? I can't seem to find a specific distinction with the power of Google.

3. With no experience with working in a hospital, what's the best way to land a NICU position? Are there internships available, and how easy or difficult is it to shadow someone while in school?

4. Uhm . . . in general I was just looking for some advice when starting out as well. I sometimes get discouraged and don't want to completely give up if it takes me some time to find a job in the NICU. If I can't find one, should I find a regular nursing job until I can manage to move into the NICU?

At this moment this is all I can think of. I hope that none of the questions I asked sounded stupid, and I will now resume an assignment and try not to refresh the page a million times xD

[mvg rn]

1. is an adn good enough to work for nicu? or should i go for a bachelor's degree? i could do either, though i'm currently in an adn program. i'm 17 years old, i can definitely do a bachelor's online at some point!

i work in a level iii nicu and we use both adn and bsn nurses. you are an rn either way. the thing to consider is if you will want to ever do anything other than bedside nursing. in that case you will want your bsn. if you are already in an adn program, i would stay there and finish that program. then find a program where you can bridge to your bsn.

2. what's the difference between a neonatal nurse and a neonatal nurse practitioner? i can't seem to find a specific distinction with the power of google.

a neonatal nurse is a nurse, usually an rn, who works in a neonatal icu. we do all the bedside nursing care of the neonate. a neonatal nurse practitioner (nnp) is a nurse who has gone on past a bachelor's degree to obtain a master's level education and further training. they also work in the nicu, but they perform at a higher level. they work more like a doctor.

3. with no experience with working in a hospital, what's the best way to land a nicu position? are there internships available, and how easy or difficult is it to shadow someone while in school?

different hospitals very - mine has an internship twice a year and most participants are new grads. we also have an extern program that allows nursing students to get a better look at the nicu and a little experience. assuming we like them, they are the first ones chosen for our internship.

talk to the nurse recruiters at the hospital near you to see what their nicu has to offer. also make sure your nursing instructor knows you are interested in nicu. she/he may be able to arrange a visit/clinical in a nicu. another option that might be available is to volunteer in the nicu. my hospital has a cuddler program that uses trained volunteers to feed and hold are babies.

4. uhm . . . in general i was just looking for some advice when starting out as well. i sometimes get discouraged and don't want to completely give up if it takes me some time to find a job in the nicu. if i can't find one, should i find a regular nursing job until i can manage to move into the nicu?

sadly, the economy has reduced opportunities in a lot of areas in nursing. take the job you can get, but continue actively looking for the job you want.

you are just starting out - keep your eyes and your heart open and you might fall in love with another type of nursing while you are in school. find a mentor as well. she/he may be able to help you a lot.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

I saw on another posting of yours that you plan to move to Texas after graduation. Texas is one of the few places (especially the larger metroplexes) that still hires new grads, ADN or BSN. It is more competitive but many units in our area still hire several new grads twice a year. If you can't get a NICU position you should still be able to get a new grad position with a little work. This is what I hear from the new grads I work with right now.

If you choose to further your education, several Texas Universities offer good programs for working nurses that involve little work on the actual campus. I've heard specifically of Texas Tech having such a program (Rn to BSN). Many of my co-workers have followed on through to NNP through UTMB Galveston. They were able to keep their full-time jobs in this area and go to Galveston just off and on for work on campus.

Gosh, you are SO young!! Imagine all the changes you will see in medicine!! How exciting. Best of luck to you!

[BACKDROPsilhouette]

xxxx

thank you for all of your answers. now i can relax a little and not obsessively research!

oh, and i couldn't reply to your message because i don't have the ability to send private messages yet (i have to have 15 posts i believe). if you don't mind, i'll just answer here!

no, my mom didn't work specifically in the nicu when she worked there. she was in the xray/ct department. she told me that she did x-rays in the nicu all the time, though!

[BACKDROPsilhouette]

xxx

Hmm, I'll definitely look into some RN to BSN programs in Texas! I didn't know that Texas was more open to taking on new grads and had those type of programs, so thanks for that.

And yes, it is exciting! It's kind of scary to think about how much medicine will change in the future, but I'll be happy to witness it all.

Thanks for replying (:

[mvg rn]

if you are going to be in dallas/fort worth area or houston area, you might want to look in texas woman's university rn to bsn program. i've hear it is very good. i think the university of texas at arlington has a program as well.