Good Level 2 NICUs in the GTA for a New Grad?

[Hope888]

Hello fellow nurses,

I will be graduating nursing school this June and I've decided to apply to level 2 NICUs. I shadowed a nurse one day in Sunnybrook's level 3 NICU and decided it was too intense and sad for me. I would rather work with less critical babies as a new grad first.

I was just wondering if any of you fellow GTA nurses out there could recommend any good Level 2 NICUs in the GTA area. For example, I have applied to Trillium Mississauga hospital's NICU, as well as St. Joe's Toronto Health Centre, but I've heard of horrible things about St. Joe's, which is making me kind of scared. I've volunteered and had placements at both Mount Sinai and Sunnybrook hospital and I know they're both great institutions, but unfortunately they're not level 2 NICUs.

Thank you for your help in advance!

[Anon101]

Hi there, I think it would be a wise decision to work in a level 3 NICU for at least a year before switching to a level 2. I say this because level 3 NICUs have excellent orientation programs for new grads (such as SickKids and Mount Sinai), whereas the level 2 NICUs don't. In fact, you won't see many new grads in level 2 NICUs as they generally tend to hire more 'experienced' RNs that are already trained (according to a manager I spoke to). You can definitely still apply, but reflecting on my own experience, I still found a level 2 NICU to be a very challenging environment mostly because of the lack of structured orientation programs for new grads. But who knows, your experience may be different!

[jennylee321]

Hi there, I think it would be a wise decision to work in a level 3 NICU for at least a year before switching to a level 2. I say this because level 3 NICUs have excellent orientation programs for new grads (such as SickKids and Mount Sinai), whereas the level 2 NICUs don't. In fact, you won't see many new grads in level 2 NICUs as they generally tend to hire more 'experienced' RNs that are already trained (according to a manager I spoke to). You can definitely still apply, but reflecting on my own experience, I still found a level 2 NICU to be a very challenging environment mostly because of the lack of structured orientation programs for new grads. But who knows, your experience may be different!

Agreed ! As far as I'm aware level 2 NICUs in GTA don't like to hire new grads. They want experienced RNs and don't have the funds to support a lengthy orientation.

[vintage_RN, BSN, RN]

I work in the level 3 NICU at McMaster (Hamilton) and we have a combo level 2 and 3 that all staff rotate through. As a new staff you would only work in the level 2 and intermediate areas for about a year until you would be trained for level 3...so this may be an option for you.

[VXD4722]

Credit Valley has a pretty large level 2 NICU. Others in Toronto/GTA that I can think of are Humber River, Toronto East General, Brampton, Etobicoke General, North York General, Oakville etc. Some of these NICUs/SCNs are quite small however with minimal staff turnover. I know a couple of people who were hired into Level 2s as new grads through the New Grad Initiative but all of them either consolidated there or had strong internal connections.

Good luck!