NICU Assignments

[RNAvatar]

Hello!

Can anyone give some information as to what kind of patients you get assigned to when you travel to a level 3 NICU? Mostly feeder growers, critical, level 2??

Any additional information would be appreciated.

Thank you!

[NedRN]

Not a NICU nurse, but feeder growers sounds right. On many assignments, travelers will not be trusted for more critical babies no matter the level. You may get better feedback in the NICU forum.

I'd like to point out that part of the process in getting an assignment is filling out a skills checklist and ranking yourself on various skills and patient populations. The agency will screen your skills against those needed before sending out your profile to a hospital for consideration. If the manager believes you have the right skills for their needs, she will schedule an interview, in which she will discuss her needs, and you can help make sure that it is a good fit for you. After that you (and the manager) can make an informed decision.

Depending, there can be a couple other parties to this process including hospital HR, or a vendor management company. It is possible that even after submission, one of these parties will block your profile as not qualified, or you simply won't interview because better candidates have been submitted by other agencies.

[RNAvatar]

Thanks for the info!

[NICUNurseEliz]

I work in a level 3 and we assign travelers feeders/growers for the most part. Occasionally, you might have a PIV or a bili light, something simple. We never give our travelers critical kids.

[infantsonly]

I am not a travel nurse, but from talking with other NICU nurses that travel the consensus seems to be travel nurses mostly get feeders and growers, very rarely critical infants.

[babyNP., APRN]

Think about it from their perspective: They don't know you or your capabilities. And the more critical of a child you have, the more stuff they have to do and every facility is different in how they treat those kids. The baby doesn't have the luxury of time for you to look up all the policies when they are crumping. As another factor, many NICU RNs like the critical babies and assignments can get competitive at times. Why add to it by giving a critical baby to a traveler? All of that being said, there is a traveler on my unit who has been here numerous times and the staff seems to really like her and I do notice that the charge RN will give her some sick assignments at times.

[HarleyNrs]

It depends on the unit and their need and their comfort level with you. I AM a NICU travel nurse. I have had vents/fresh post ops at some hospitals and growers at others. It is one of the first questions I ask in and interview. "what acuity can I expect to be assigned?" I have turned down grower/feeder offers.