NICU Internship!

hi there!

I just graduated with my BSN in December. I am now a new grad NICU RN, but prior I did a NICU Externship, so I know exactly where you stand! It's an exciting time, and congrats on getting the position!

Our education program used "Core Curriculum for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing." It is a thorough book, and a great resource. Might be a great book to pick up, but don't plan to read it cover to cover or understand everything in the book.

Most importantly, learn from your preceptor and your experiences. It's a totally different world than any other, but it's amazing. Soak it in! Congrats again!

I just finished up my first week in my NICU externship :) So far I love it! It is a Level 2 NICU and most of my patients so far have been "feeders and growers" or what my unit calls "feed and feathers" so I am doing a lot of feeding, assessments, charting, and just getting accustomed to working with babies that are 3 lbs (and their families) Next week I am going to be assigned babies with a higher acuity. But it really is a great experience and I am learning so much and am hoping and praying this will help me get a job in a Level 3 NICU when I graduate in December. My unit has a TON of resource books to look through while I am working and they have a NeoFax that has all the neonatal drugs and doses that I can use a reference. I bought a book on amazon that I've looked through a little but I will tell you a lot of what you will learn is from hands on and from your preceptor. Ask tons of questions...look things up on your down time that you don't understand completely...look at your babies and pay close attention when assessing and most importantly have fun and learn a lot!

Welcome to the NICU. I still use the Core Curriculum book that was mentioned above. I find it very useful and it's sufficiently easy to understand, even for a new nurse.

In all things, always remember that that is someone's baby. Do your best for them. :)