NICU specific questions to ask the interviewer.

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Jan 24, 2018

Nurse to patient ratio (mix of acuity in assignment)

What types of patients do they keep vs ship to higher level NICU (assuming they are not Level IV)

How long is orientation

how often are the nurses pulled to another unit during low census.

Do you do Primary nursing care (a nurse is assigned to certain babies every shift as long as they are in NICU)

Nurse/Neonatologist dynamic (are nurses opinions valued by drs and are the nurses respected?)

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Jan 24, 2018

Thank you for your input. I had the interview this am and I think it went ok. I am not the best at interviews because I am shy to begin with, and ad nerves to that... ugh.

They asked me to shadow tomorrow so I will be doing that to get a better feel of the unit. The downside is is that the hospital is 1. 5 hours away, but I really want to work in NICU.

Annie

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Jan 24, 2018

They asked me to shadow tomorrow so I will be doing that to get a better feel of the unit.

Good news: they are interested in you enough to allow you to job shadow.

Bad News: The real interview starts. Management will ask the nurse about you.

Ask many questions (spaced out, not rapid fire) and stay engaged (turn cell phone off to avoid temptation).

Are you willing to move if offered the job?

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Jan 25, 2018

I would really have to think hard about taking a job 1.5 hours away. We do have a nurse or two who live hours away but they schedule their days together and stay locally when they work.

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Jan 25, 2018

Hi,

Thank you for your advice. I did shadow today and liked it, but didn't love it. I am starting to think maybe NICU is not for me after all, to be honest I was kind of bored. The nurse I shadowed was wonderful and everyone was very friendly, so it wasn't the people, I think it was just the lack of excitement. We had a 29 weaker, born at 26 weeks who was vented, but stable.

I am use to the emergency and pre hospital setting and maybe that is what I need to stick with, and maybe a pediatric ER would be a better fit for me.

Also, as you guys mentioned, the drive is a killer. I drive a Tacoma and I used 3/4 of a tank, and that would mean filling up my gas tank 4 times a week if I did take the job, so that is another issue, that will probably make me not take the job as well. I think after a while that will be exhausting, especially in the winter as they get even more snow than we do where I am. I will take a day or two to think about it and email the NM if I think its not the job for me, but I want to make sure I take the time to sleep on it.

Annie

guest769224 · Jan 29, 2018

So what did you decide?

StillRN · Feb 1, 2018

The NICU can be very boring, especially with hands off kids.. but it can also be crazy busy and stressful! I worked in a NICU once that had 2 sets of triplets deliver at the same time.. thats 6 premature admits at the same time! a 3rd set of triplets delivered shortly after that!

jennylee321 · Feb 1, 2018

The NICU can be very boring, especially with hands off kids.. but it can also be crazy busy and stressful! I worked in a NICU once that had 2 sets of triplets deliver at the same time.. thats 6 premature admits at the same time! a 3rd set of triplets delivered shortly after that!

That's insane !

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Feb 1, 2018

Hi,

Well I will email the nurse manager today and just say thanks, but no thanks. I know that 4 hours of shadow time isn't that much to really judge whether or not I will like it, but 90 miles is way to much for a one way commute to take my chances.

I think if I could get a NICU job closer to home I would probably take it and give it a year to see if I do really like it, but until then it's back to the same old for me...

Annie