Semper_Gumby

When my husband comes home from his job in the afternoons, he makes sure to be very quiet even on days I'm not working, because he says, "You need your rest!" He is more protective of my sleep than I am lol. Even on days I let him know it's ok to w...

The internet strikes again...

Holy cow, SEVEN couplets?! That's insane!

You had two weeks of orientation as a new grad? Well, I had two shifts more than you and you know what? It wasn't enough. Two weeks is nowhere near enough time for a new graduate nurse to both learn their new job and specialty, practice critical thi...

Four babies is a lot! And confidence will come with time. One day you'll be in the midst of a task you previously found hard and think, "I know this!" and you'll feel really proud of yourself for getting to that point. If you never had a NICU rota...

Never worked there so I'm no help but I did live in the area for a little while, and seem to recall that some of the apartments immediately near the hospital were a little sketchy. We lived in Winterville, which is right next to Greenville near the ...

Oh! Forgot to add--absolutely make taking a break a priority. Sometimes getting out of the unit for five, ten, fifteen minutes, taking a breather, getting a drink or snack, is all you need to be refreshed to keep going for a few more hours. It can...

You're brand new in a brand new specialty. You're getting hundreds of pieces of information thrown at you all at the same time. It'll take time for all the pieces to really come together. It's like putting together a really big, complicated puzzle...

I gave a little card with a nice note, and a small Amazon gift card as I figured she could buy herself a book or some other little thing she'd been wanting but hadn't spent the money on for herself.

Being in a new city at your first nursing job is tough. Relax! You're new at this and it takes time to feel comfortable in a new place, new job, new role, etc. Give yourself grace. You've been given some good advice and I would only add, don't be...

OP, I actually had the same experience of realizing I didn't want the super-sick babies, but I realized it less than halfway through orientation and transferred into the progressive/step-down nursery which takes mostly NICU grads who need to learn to...

I have an interview tomorrow with the manager on a large level IV NICU! I'm excited and nervous. I actually shadowed one day on this unit way back in my peds rotation in nursing school but that was several years ago. Fingers crossed it goes well!

Hi there, sorry, I just saw this and I know it's too late, but for anyone else reading, the best preparation I can suggest is getting familiar with the hospital's mission and vision, preparing answers to common interview questions, dress professional...

I was newborn nursery, not mother-baby, but I do recall the moms got vitals 3x per day (I believe it was q4 for a set time after a C-section, then 3x per day), something like 0600, 1400, and 2000. Babies were q2h x5 and then twice a shift, no set ti...

I'm sorry you're going through this. Like the others said, per ToS we cannot give medical advice, and this thread will likely be closed, but we CAN wish you and your family the best, and the best for your niece's recovery.

I just accepted the position I recently interviewed for in a level IV NICU at a children's hospital. I am so stoked! I've wanted to do NICU since my early teens and have always wanted to work in a children's hospital so I am pretty excited! :)

When I graduated, my school recommended the Saunders NCLEX review, and the Prioritization, Delegation and Assignment book, and to do approximately 100 practice questions per day, complete with understanding the rationales for both what you got wrong ...

I'd vote level II. I don't think you'll get much worthwhile experience as a postpartum nurse floating to NICU. Better to go to level II nursery and get familiar with babies and learn what will give a good foundation for transitioning to level III/I...

Congratulations! I've worked nights before, and will be going to nights in late July/early August for the last few weeks of my orientation. I found it easiest to keep myself on a fairly consistent schedule (staying up most of the night and sleeping...

Wow. Your unit sounds like a cluster! 23 hour shifts are totally unsafe, although I know stuff happens with weather, etc. but there's no excuse otherwise (and really, if poor weather is expected, somebody should be planning ahead and getting staff ...

Thanks for the recommendation! It would definitely be interesting to read about. And that's part of what raises all these questions about do we or don't we resuscitate, what's too early, etc. because you don't want to give up on the one who'd be th...

A year is plenty of time to know someone pretty well. If he's not willing to open up to you in any meaningful way, it's hard to build a trusting relationship, and I would expect some level of opening up to a dating partner after that long a period o...

Some hospitals aren't set up for or don't support spoon/cup/syringe/SNS feedings, unfortunately. My first was like that. The peds would have had a cow if a nurse tried one of these! And with only one part-time lactation consultant, moms got a mini...

This is an interesting topic for me as a new NICU nurse (and one who's had an interest in NICU for many years). I have "heard" that in many European countries, for example, the cut-off is not as early as in the U.S. I think sometimes we're overly a...

That hospital sounds wonderful. Would that all hospitals could approach end-of-life care similarly! My husband's grandmother is in her late 80's, sharp as a tack, living independently and in relatively good health for her age. She has her hot pink ...