Please answer some questions about being a 'normal' nursery nurse! Thanks!

Specialties NICU

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Hey Im in highschool and Ive been thinking about being a neonatal nurse. I would really love to be a 'Normal' nursery nurse. Is this a good thing to do? Is it fun? Boring? Easy? Hard? Is this the kind of nurse that you feed, weigh, bathe, change diapers, and help mothers? I would also want to do the Mother/Baby thing. Is this what you do when you help mother bond/etc with their baby? I was also thinking about doing the night shift..is this hard?

Before you can get into this career, what kind of things to you have to know/learn/understand? My grandmother was a neonatal nursery nurse but she died before I was born. I heard that she had to disect a cat for a class in med school! :uhoh3: Is this true? I dont think i would be able to handle it....:o

Also when you are this kind of nurse do you have to give IVs if you dont think you can? also shots? I kind of right now have a weak stomach so would you ever be able to say you cant do these things?

What are the requirements, duties, responsibilities, pros/cons, hours, and salary of 'Normal' nursery nurse?

We have this thing in high school now called "18 and out". It means you can graduate with 18 credits and year early. Can you still be this nurse even though you do 18 and out?

Before you are a nursery nurse, what kind of classes do you have to take that dont have to do with newborns and stuff? How long do you go to college and med school and etc?

I am so interested in this profession but anywhere else on the internet isnt helping me. Could anyone give me a website that could give plenty of information?

I know I have so many questions but I have noone else to ask...Could you give me any advice or options? Thanks so so so so so much in advance....Thanks again!

Most hospitals don't have a "normal" newborn nurseries, the babies stay with their moms.

Really? That's surprising. Maybe it's a regional thing, but the three major hospitals I worked in during school in NYC all had well-baby nurseries. They allowed rooming-in (baby staying in mom's room), but all gave moms the option of having the baby in the nursery at night, or when they wanted to take a shower, or other times that they couldn't supervise the baby for whatever reason.

How do hospitals that don't have well-baby nurseries handle supervising the baby when mom can't? Is it mom's responsibility to make sure that someone else (the dad, or a grandparent, or a friend) comes in to the hospital to watch the baby or does the nurse stay in the room? Do they do the newborn assessments, etc. in the mom's room?

-m.

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If I were to be a LPN, right after graduating high school, were do I go?
I found the descrption below on: http://www.futuresinnursing.org/education/index.shtml

"Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)

  • Program completed in 1 year
  • Offered by vocational-technical schools, community colleges, and some hospital-based nursing education programs
  • LPNs wishing to become Registered Nurses (RN) can usually obtain advanced placement in hospital-based education programs or in Associate Degree in Nursing programs, allowing them to complete the RN requirements in a shorter amount of time.

Once students have completed the necessary courses they must pass a licensing exam to practice as a practical nurse and use the title Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)."

So it looks like you should find out if any of the vocational/technical schools, community colleges, or hospitals in your area offer LPN/LVN education programs.

That said, I don't think I was clear in my earlier email that the nurses that worked in the well-baby nursery and the nurses that worked on the postpartum part of the floor (with the moms) were the same nurses-- meaning that they rotate. BUT, that is one hospital, other hospitals do it differently. Some hospitals have what they call LDRP (labor delivery recovery postpartum) rooms and the nurses there are expected to assist with the deliveries, work with postpartum moms, and work with babies. The key to all of this is to find out what the hospitals you think you might want to work at in the future do and what kind of nurses they hire to work with mothers and babies.

I could be wrong here (please, LPNs/LVNs, speak up if I am!) but you REALLY should consider Associate's Degree courses to get your RN, at least. It may take more time, but it is SO worth it because you will be MUCH better paid than you would as an LPN and you have so many more options in terms of where you can work.

From the same website I mentioned above:

"Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN)

  • Offered by junior and community colleges and some universities
  • Completed within 2-3 years
  • College credits earned in an associate degree program are generally accepted at many colleges and universities that provide a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing. In some cases all credits received at this level will be transferable depending on arrangements made between two-year and four-year schools."

-m.

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Okay thanks again! :D You have no idea how much you've helped! If you have anything to add go right ahead :p !

So it looks like you should find out if any of the vocational/technical schools, community colleges, or hospitals in your area offer LPN/LVN education programs.

I found out that the community college next to me has a LPN/LVN program and a an ADN program. It says on the college's webpage that in the LPN curriculum that you have to take 350 hours of Practical Nursing Medical- Surgical I and 350 hours of " " II. I didn't know you had to take that stuff to be a neonatal nurse... (I know I sound like I dont know absolutly nothing about nursing but Hey I guess I dont :chuckle ) Well anyways thanks a ton!

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Specializes in NICU.
I found out that the community college next to me has a LPN/LVN program and a an ADN program. It says on the college's webpage that in the LPN curriculum that you have to take 350 hours of Practical Nursing Medical- Surgical I and 350 hours of " " II. I didn't know you had to take that stuff to be a neonatal nurse... (I know I sound like I dont know absolutly nothing about nursing but Hey I guess I dont :chuckle ) Well anyways thanks a ton!

You don't learn to be a neonatal nurse in school. You learn general nursing of all patient poplulations (babies, children, adults, elderly) and how to practice in many settings (hospital, psychiatric unit, outpatient clinic, community health centers, etc). Everybody takes the same state boards whether they're going to work with adults or children. You have to learn everything, not just babies! After graduation and you pass your state boards, then you can find a job in a neonatal unit and they'll train you completely - you don't learn very much in nursing school about neonatal intensive care.

If you are interested in neonatal ICU - do not become an LPN/LVN. While some units do have some of these nurses on staff, it's probably because they've been there for awhile. There are a lot of things that nurses must do in NICU that most LPNs aren't licensed to do (IV push medications, blood transfusions, independent patient assessments, etc) so if you want to go into this area it's vital that you get your RN (be it with an associate's degree or a bachelor's).

Good luck!

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If you are interested in neonatal ICU - do not become an LPN/LVN. While some units do have some of these nurses on staff, it's probably because they've been there for awhile. There are a lot of things that nurses must do in NICU that most LPNs aren't licensed to do (IV push medications, blood transfusions, independent patient assessments, etc) so if you want to go into this area it's vital that you get your RN (be it with an associate's degree or a bachelor's).

I really just want to work with the "well babies". You can't be an LPN for that? I thought The well babies dont need these things and they just need us to check for vital signs and other stuff. Correct me if Im wrong please :) I was actually thinking of getting LPN then while I work for that work for my RN. Is that a good idea?

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

The trend is "couplet care". That means the baby stays w/mom. I live in Southern California, and I don't know of any hospital in our community that has a "well-baby nursery"; the babies all room-in.

That doesn't seem to be the case where you are right now, but it probably will be in the future. Don't tie your self into a job that won't be there in the foreseeable future!

One possibility you may want to explore is a "nanny". There are schools that you can go to (they're private, so ?$$$) for this. You can go to a jc/cc and focus your education on early childhood education. One of our CCs offers a course in infant developement, which you take after the general child development class. That would steer you into a preschool/daycare setting. Daycares often take very young babies.

Get some catalogs from the area cc/jc's, and "shop".

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One possibility you may want to explore is a "nanny". There are schools that you can go to (they're private, so ?$$$) for this. You can go to a jc/cc and focus your education on early childhood education. One of our CCs offers a course in infant developement, which you take after the general child development class. That would steer you into a preschool/daycare setting. Daycares often take very young babies.

I was really hopeing to work in a hospital setting in the nursery and etc. :crying2: I know that if this is the job that I am supposed to have, it will all work out :) !

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-Also, what do you think the best thing for me to do is? I know I'm young and I have a while to make choices, but with my situation and career goals, what should I do?

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It says on the college's webpage that in the LPN curriculum that you have to take 350 hours of Practical Nursing Medical- Surgical I and 350 hours of " " II. I didn't know you had to take that stuff to be a neonatal nurse... (I know I sound like I dont know absolutly nothing about nursing but Hey I guess I dont :chuckle ) Well anyways thanks a ton!
Wether you go into an LPN program or an ADN program, you will learn general nursing, as a previous poster mentioned. You have to in order to get your license. And, as PRMENRS mentioned, you really want to have broad experience because things *do* change. Hospitals change how they structure their units and what their nurses are expected to do and *you* may change your mind about what you want to do. Or you may not change your mind, but it's good to have options.

The "350 hours of Practical Nursing Medical-Surgical I and II"-- remember when I mentioned that school would include clinical rotations? That's what (I think) this is. In nursing school, you have your regular (also called "didactic") classes-- just like the classes you take in school right now where you go to class, listen to a lecture, have a textbook that you read out of, and take written tests. Your clinical classes/ rotations are where you are actually *in* the hospital, on the floor working and learning the necessary skills-- how to give a shot, how to place an IV or urinary catheter, even simple stuff like how to make a bed or move patients. "Medical-Surgical" means that you will probably be on an Adult "Medical-Surgical" floor (check with your community college to be sure that's what they mean). Medical/ Surgical floors can be general-- meaning that they have a combination of patients who are recovering from surgery (hence the "Surgical" part) or who are being treated for serious Medical problems (for example: Kidney disease/ failure or infections like pneumonia) OR, they can be specialized medical/ surgical floors-- like during my medical/surgical rotation I worked on a gastrointestinal (GI) floor, so we had a lot of patients that had some sort of surgery on their stomach, intestines, or bowels. It was not an area of nursing *I* liked, but I did learn skills that help me care for patients on other floors and I got through it in order to do what I want to do now.

I know you're thinking about getting your LPN, then working on your RN while you work-- which is a FINE idea and totally up to you-- you're the one who knows your financial situation and it is your life, but here are some things to find out before you decide between the LPN and ADN programs:

1. Are there well-baby nurseries in the hospitals in the areas (city/ town) that you want to work?

2. If so, do they hire LPNs to work in the well- baby nursery?

3. Do the LPNs ONLY work in the nursery or do they rotate between the well-baby nursery and the postpartum floor?

You can get answers to these questions by calling the Human Resources departments of hospitals you are interested in. The Human Resources departments are the department of the hospital that handles recruiting nurses and hiring nurses (and all other employees). If you can't find their number on the website for the hospital or in the phone book, you can call the general information number for the hospital and ask for the number for the human resources department. If you just called them and said "Hi, my name is ------------, and I am considering going into nursing. I would like to speak to someone about opportunities at your hospital for LPNs and RNs." Either the person you are talking to can answer your questions or they should be able to transfer your call to someone else in the department who can.

Also, you may want to go talk to the people who run the LPN and ADN programs at the community college near you. They may able to help you figure out what program would work best for you if you want to work with moms and babies.

If the hospitals in your area DO have well-baby nurseries and they DO hire LPNs to work in the well-baby nursery-- then GREAT! You can do an LPN program, then get a job as an LPN in the well-baby nursery, and work while you get your ADN to become an RN.

*BUT*

If they don't have well-baby nurseries, or the if they do but don't hire LPNs to work in the nursery or the postpartum floor, then you may want to go directly for the ADN.

ALSO: Working with mothers and babies-- whether in Labor & Delivery, on a Postpartum floor, or in the well-baby nursery (if there is one), is very popular with nurses, which means there is more competition for the jobs in this area. I'm not saying you can't get a job doing it, but you should keep in mind that it may be harder to get a job with moms and babies, than in other units like general medical/ surgical units or psychiatriac units.

I'm not saying any of this to discourage you from pursuing an LPN, you just need to be sure that you can be an LPN and get a job working where you want to work. Otherwise, you could end up getting your LPN and have to work for a year or two in an area of the hospital you don't particularly like while you get your ADN so you can get into working with moms and babies.

I know I said a lot-- did any of that make any sense? :)

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-Also, what do you think the best thing for me to do is? I know I'm young and I have a while to make choices, but with my situation and career goals, what should I do?

:rotfl: Well, I think it's obvious from my replies what *I* think you should do:rotfl:. If you don't want to get a BSN right out of high school, then I REALLY think you should get an ADN and become an RN.

Reasons?

1. I think it gives you the best chance of being able to work with moms and babies, regardless of how the unit at the hospital you wan to work at is structured (with well-baby nurseries or, as PRMENRS mentioned with no well-baby nursery and the babies rooming-in with their mom, or even on floors that combine Labor and Delivery and Postpartum).

2. You get paid better.

That all said, I don't know you personally, so I can't say for sure what is really in your best interest.:)

-m.

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Also, if you haven't already you should check out the Ob-gyn nursing/ Midwifery nursing forum:

https://allnurses.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=35

They talk a lot more about the Labor and Delivery side of Maternal-Child Health, but there may be some nurses in that forum that have more experience in working with well-babies and mother-baby couplets.

-m.

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Just wanted to drop a note..

I worked on Labor and Delivery while I went to Nursing school and currently at the hospital I work at we DO have a Nursery for the babies to go to, along with our special care nursery. Now the staff Nurses, whether you were an LPN, RN, or BSN were crosstrained you either were a Nursery Nurse or a Labor Nurse, but when the situation arose where there were sick babies in the Spec care nursery the nurse who was originally hired to be a nursery nurse stayed in the nursery because she was quallified to care for the sick babies...You take extensive specialty courses often offered by the hospital you work for to be "qualified". I really think you should get involved in some job shadowing experiences either at your school or local hospital...call around they have summer programs too!

Good Luck, God Bless!

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