Pre-nursing student interested in Pediatrics PICU-what it's like....?

[bound4nursing]

Hello to all nurses. I am a CPhT. I work in a mail order pharmacy. I am taking my pre-reqs right now but hopefully be accepted into nursing school by 2011 and my goal is to get a BSN with RN.:)

I do have a few questions for you experienced nurses:

How did you survive nursing school?

How did you manage the so called "competition?" and with the other nursing students?

What should my main focuses be in nursing school?

I am eager to work with children. I am currently seeing about shadowing a nurse at a local children's hospital (with the help of my mom who happens to work there) and am a little nervous as I don't know what to expect or how to act?....

I do know what I want is to care for children and be the best nurse I can be.

I would like to work in PICU or NICU. What is it like for new grads? How hard is it to obtain positions in these areas of nursing as new grads or are there many positions available?- I live in the DFW area

Thanks a million!

:typing

[Maikafer-RN]

From my experience and understanding it isn't difficult to get a new grad job in the PICU or NICU. I just graduated in December and more than half of the students in my class signed a contract with a local hospital and at least 5-8 of them got a job in the NICU and maybe 10-15 got a job in the PICU. PICU was severely understaffed at this time however and they were trying to get rid of their travelers and such. I tried to get a job in the PICU when I heard they were hiring like crazy but because of the economy and job market, the hospital was on a hiring freeze and couldn't hire anyone that didn't sign the contract. But thats ok because I just got a job in the ER at a hospital down the street from my house with a Versant Program and I'm really excited for that.

I would think that you would already have a "foot in" with your mom working for the children's hospital. Get to know the managers on the units you want to work and see if they have some sort of contract that you can sign to guarantee yourself a job there for when you graduate.