NICURNStepharelli

I seem to be going through the same thing with night shift. I am hired for a day/night rotation with a 6 week rotation. When I am on night shift, I feel depressed, cry all the time, and have actually had moments in which I have found myself throwing things around my house, and even hitting walls (I think from just sheer exhaustion). When I am at work, I become mean and nasty to people, have issues with keeping my blood sugar up, and become physically ill every night. When I go home after work, I only sleep like 1.5 hours. Then I am up .... all day long .... I have bought blackout curtains, run a fan, have tried the mask and ear plugs (but they annoy me, and I don't sleep at all). I have tried taking Benadryl, Tylenol PM, Xanax to help with sleep ... none make any difference, just make me feel drugged all day then. I talked to my nurse manager and all she could offer me was to be put on the waiting list for a day/evening rotation (appox. 1 year), or she offered to help me find another job. I absolutely love my job and don't want to find another job, but over the past 4 weeks, it hasn't gotten any better at all. I feel like I might not have any choice at this point. Any ideas??

I teched on a peds psych unit, and often was 1:1 with a client. I know that in NICU there are 1:1 babies too. (I am aware that NICU and Psych are different worlds). This situation happened many many times (which is what concerns me) On numerous occasions, I would ask for short a break because my blood sugar was low (I stated "I need a break now because my blood sugar is low") and was often told by the RNs that they were too busy to do it now, and would find someone to relieve me - which was fine. But 1 hour later when I was still begging for a break, it's not fine (thank God I had some carbs with me ... but not enough). My pt. was required to stay in his room, and I was not allowed to leave my spot, so letting others know was not possible. When I talked to the charge nurse about this, I was told "you need to be more assertive and direct about your needs". Sorry, but I don't know how to be more direct than "My blood sugar is low, and i need a break". NM said the same thing about needing to be more assertive/direct. When my blood sugar is low, I can not safely care for a patient (especially one as sick as a NICU baby) because I can't think clearly ... I am too focused on how badly I feel at that moment. This is not an everyday occurance either ... but if my blood sugar does go low, is staffing usually sufficient enough to cover me for 5 minutes so I can get some sugar in me or will I be encountering this situation in NICU too???? Any ideas on how to handle this situation if it does happen in NICU? I think some of this worry about little stuff is just because I am terrified (but so so excited) to start my 1st nursing job in NICU!!!!

Thanks for the advice. I figured that there would not be a book like that ... but I thought I would ask.

Hi all. I am new here, and just passed my NCLEX!!!!! I will be starting a position in NICU next month. I am very excited and very nervous about it at the same time. I will be working at a large children's hospital in a Level 3 NICU. When I applied the posting said "new grads apply here", but the requirements stated "only those with 2 years NICU experience will be considered". Anyway, they interviewed me and hired me although I had only spent 10 hours observing in NICU during my OB rotation. The nurse manager was impressed with my references from both school and work, as well as my grades throughout nursing school, and my passion for working in NICU so she hired me. So needless to say, I have no idea what to expect when I begin, and need to review some of the neonatal info before I begin. I like to read, but find textbooks very dry and boring. Does anyone know of any novel-type non-fiction books about NICU that might be good to read? I love to read "normal" books. I know that there are posts on which books are recommended for new grads, but all seem like textbooks ... don't have the money to buy the book right now, and the closest library that might be able to get it for me is about 40 minutes away. Thanks for your help!!