NICU or mental health...which one do you think?

[beachgirl17]

I currently work on med-surg unit. It is pretty stressful, but I like my coworkers. The reason I thinking of leaving is because I have orthopedic problems that cause my body to hurt. I am thinking I need to change jobs to a less physically strenuous unit. I am considering NICU or inpatient mental health for children. I think I would really enjoy either for different reasons.

I have already read through many threads regarding both subjects. I am asking which one would use choose... NICU or mental health? I understand it is a very individual choice. I am just looking for others' perspectives. Thank you.:)

[Guest505077]

I have been an NICU nurse for many,many years. I have seen alot of changes. In our unit, we are expected to care for increasingly complex infants without the adequate resources (mainly staff, equipment, proper physician coverage, etc). This makes for an extremely stressful environment. It is not unusal at all to go most hours of a 12hr shift without a break. You are on your feet constantly, you can have alot of bending over when assisting a mother with breast feeding. It is a fast paced, unpredictable environment with no room for error.

I wish you good luck with the change in your career

[ijuanabhappy, ASN, RN]

Everyone will have an individual experience, as you mentioned. If you think you can handle the stress of the NICU and it is what you truly want to do, I would say go for it. Me personally, I tried out the NICU as an inexperienced nurse with only an 8 week fellowship and I could not handle it. Not only was I not experienced with skills, being new,... we also had 3 and 4 baby assignments from the beginning. There was too steep of a learning curve, at least for me, in that 8 weeks. I personally would love the adolescent psych and that is definitely what I would choose.