NICU Nursing

[NurseK21]

i am finally in my final year of nursing school (something that i thought could never be accomplished). in my spring 2011 semester i had a life changing experience that really opened my eyes. i actually had the opportunity to do a clinical rotation at comer children's hospital in chicago. like every nursing student, i really did not know what i wanted to do when i completed college or what department to work in. however, one night at clinical i was presented with an opportunity that few have; i was able to go to the nicu for a few hours of clinical.

being excited for a new experience, i grew weary if i could actually make it a few hours seeing these babies the size of your hand with numerous tubes and bandages the size of pencil lead laying hopelessly in beds. the nicu was a huge eye opener. i instantly fell in love with them. i loved the feeling of holding a baby when the nurse changed the bedding. most of all, i loved the feeling of when i was feeding the tiny peanut; it made me feel like "this is what i was supposed to do." i instantly had butterflies in my stomach. i loved watching this baby eat; it made me feel a sense of accomplishment.

in reality, i am scared and nervous to start this journey. i am scared of the bad times but anxious for the good. does every nicu/ icu/ nurse in general feel this way? how do you know if you are supposed to be a nicu nurse? :heartbeat

just a few thoughts.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

I think you know your niche when you understand there will be good and bad, but get those butterflies. Enjoy your journey.

[littleneoRN]

Consider checking out the NICU forum on there. Go to Specialty on the top. Choose Critical Care Nursing. Then there is a link to NICU. There are plenty of threads on this very topic if you search back a bit. Plus lots of other great info if you are interested!

[babyNP., APRN]

It's a fairly universal experience for new grads to feel nervous and "dumb" even though they are usually exactly on track considering their amount of experience. I felt like crap most days while on my orientation in NICU and 2.5 years later, yeah, it goes away. Never completely, but mostly.

[NurseK21]

Thank you so much. I will check that out!