Only on Orientation and hate it.

[Luckykar74]

Throughout nursing school my eye was on being a NICU nurse. I wanted to change lives of kids from the very beginning of their lives. I did a year and a half of cardiac pcu first to get my bearings and to build up some courage. I'm currently 12 weeks into a 16 week orientation and I think I hate it. I don't like how fast paced at can be at times. I get told to do 10 tasks all at once and I feel like I just shut down. I also am scared of babies on ventilators. How do they have SO MANY SECRETIONS? Having to suction and bag them because they're desatting. Holy crap. I don't know how to tell my bosses that it's not for me without losing my job. I don't know how they would react. I would still like to work at the same hospital because it's in walking distance from my house. When is the right time to say something? I'm not allowed to apply to other positions within the network until I've been there for 8 months unless there are extenuating circumstances. Does this qualify?

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

At 12 weeks in, you are still in the shock phase. It's best not to make any big decisions until you've given it more time.

Feeling overwhelmed is normal at his stage- you are not alone. Is there someone at work you could talk with to debrief?

Think about how far you've come since the beginning of your 12 weeks and remember what you love about neonatal nursing. Best wishes.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

You need to have faith in yourself that things will get better. I had 12 weeks orientation and at the end of orientation I was scared when taking care of the babies on vents. But as time went on, I got more comfortable. I kept pushing my comfort zone by taking the sicker babies. It wasn't until I had 1 1/2 yrs experience that I felt comfortable in my job. Now, I love taking the 650g babies on vents. What you are experiencing is completely normal. Trust that your co-workers have been in your position and are there to help you. Regardless of the number of years experience, everyone needs help at one time or another. Take a deep breath and trust that it will get better.

[llg, PhD, RN]

As a person who spent 14 years coordinating NICU orientation programs .... I am going to take a different tack from the previous posters.

You need to figure out if your really hate it .... or if you are just not feeling comfortable yet. There is a HUGE difference between actually "hating" something ... and just not feeling comfortable yet. Deep down inside, which is it for you? Is it the type of work you imagined? Is it the type of work you really want to do? One of the most difficult groups to orient in the NICU (and the group most likely to leave during orientation or shortly thereafter) is the nurse who worked a couple of years on another type of unit before coming to NICU. They get comfortable doing other types of nursing and that feels good to them: they feel secure and competent. Then they switch to NICU, where everything is different and they feel as if the rug has been pulled out from under them. Suddenly, they feel incompetent -- as if the foundation of their judgments doesn't apply here -- and they are right. You have to be willing and able to kind'a "start all over again." Some people cannot bear to do that. It's just too uncomfortable for them to bear starting over again. A new grad doesn't have that big problem because they are prepared to not know stuff. They haven't had the experience of feeling comfortable and competent: so they don't feel that big impact from going suddenly from competent to beginner.

So ... what really is the root of the problem for YOU? Is the work of the NICU not what you expected it to be and you really have no desire to do that type of work? If that is the case, you need to leave. You won't be happy until you do and you are not doing any favors for anyone by wasting the NICU's resources on orienting you. Your Manager should understand and release you to seek employment on another unit. She does not want to waste her resources orienting someone who has no desire to work there and is only going to "serve their required time" and then leave.

However, if you still feel that you WANT to get good at NICU nursing and WANT to do the type of work that they do in the NICU, then stick with it. Take the advice of the previous posters and give yourself more time. Realize that feeling super-uncomfortable now is the price you pay for having gotten comfortable and confident with another type of nursing. Talk with your preceptor and others and say things like, "I really find NICU to be very interesting and it's the type of nursing I want to do ... but I'm still not feeling comfortable with a lot of things. Can you give me some advice on how to handle that? Did you go through that when you first started in the NICU? How long did it take you to start feeling comfortable? etc.)

For people who stick with it, things usually start to improve in the 6-9 month time frame.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[HalfBoiled, BSN, RN]

I can't say for NICU, but I wasn't confedent on my own until a month after orientation. I still ask for my coworkers help or for questions for "How can I approach this?" and "What does this mean?"