NICU vs. cardiac?

[studentbear, CNA]

I have a strong interest in working in the NICU and understand that I am well-suited for it because I work in a methodical/systematic way and am very detail-oriented. I have experience working as a float unit CNA, so I've been exposed to lots of different units, and I find that the units I prefer are often ICU or tele/step-down. I have no exposure to the NICU, however.

I've begun a FHM course, joined, AWHONN, and have been generally doing things to try and show on my resume that I am interested in this specialty.

I've been feeling sort of confused/uncertain about which direction to focus on, because I love working on cardiac step-down units. I think this is because of how those units are run compared to med-surg ones (very teamwork oriented, nurses tend to partner with techs to get care done, not chaotic, ratio is lower, etc.) but maybe there is an aspect I'm missing? Would the NICU operate in a similar way?

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

5 hours ago, studentbear said:

I think this is because of how those units are run compared to med-surg ones (very teamwork oriented, nurses tend to partner with techs to get care done, not chaotic, ratio is lower, etc.) but maybe there is an aspect I'm missing? Would the NICU operate in a similar way?

We have only one PCA (excluding PCAs used as unit secretary) for our 103 bed NICU. You work as an individual performing your assessments and feeding your assigned babies. We are a team-focused unit when a nurse needs help. For example, if the transport team is bringing a baby to the NICU, the nurses in that section of the unit will all prepare the room and once the patient arrives, several nurses will help that nurse admit the patient (doing in-depth assessment, getting labs, starting an IV, etc). Another nurse will help with the admitting nurse's other patients while they are busy with the baby from transport. 

When things are running smoothly, everyone works as individuals. When someone gets busy and you are not busy, you are expected to pitch-in and help the busy nurse because if you were busy and they were not, you would want them to help you.