babyNP.

I actually know a CNM who is also a PMHNP and works for an addictions center for pregnant women. Such a cool, unique role, although so narrow that it might be difficult to find a job everywhere.

We cannot tell you what will be best for you, but I can offer that the longer you wait, for many people, the harder it will be to transition not only to the NICU as a RN but also to the provider role of being a NP. Your salary potential will also be less because you will get a new grad NP salary, which may be close to what you get if you have extensive RN experience. I've seen very experienced NICU RNs struggle with being a NP because the mindset is very different and I've also had colleagues who had 20 years of bedside experience get paid the same or less as a new grad NP than they did as a RN. Neither issue is set in stone, just a trend I have noticed. I can't speak for the hospital for which you are applying, but many units have more camaraderie on the night shift. You should try to get day shift later on if you can so you can learn more from rounds and procedures. best of luck whatever you decide...

What that hospital is allowing you to do is exceedingly rare. If you have aspirations to go to other hospitals, best to get the post-masters and be done with it. The schools not allowing you to do clinical in NY has to do with New York state, not the school itself. You might check out the BON site for "allowed" programs in your state for online schools. edit- timely thread by our own traumasRUs

NPs are not nearly as well expanded as they are here in the USA. I don't know anything about France but I do know the UK has NPs. They don't have a separate licensure, just have a graduate degree.

Should a mom breastfeed if she wants? Sure. Should a mom formula feed if she wants? Sure. Do we guilt trip either? Of course not. Can every woman breastfeed that wants to? No. But the amount of women that want to but can't actually breastfeed is not as high as these anecdotal stories make it to be. I agree as some have said above that we don't as a society (at least in the United States) support mothers that want to and are able to breastfeed enough. It's not a mystery why breastfeeding rates drop precipitously after 3 months- moms have to go back to work and the stress of working and being away from their baby drops supply and/or it's just so difficult for them to do it in the first place. I wish we had paid maternity leave like many countries in Europe. I think that would help mothers and babies the most in promoting breastfeeding. I would never agree with a LC treating moms the way they've talked about in this form (although klone's response was excellent about health care providers- if I needed heart surgery and my first surgeon was a jerk, that doesn't mean I shouldn't still seek out heart surgery and swear off all heart surgeons). I think what they are trying to get at though is establishing your supply in the first couple of weeks is crucial to stamping in a supply for the future. That's why the first couple of weeks are critical. A breast pump isn't as a good as a baby, but for moms that want to breastfeed, establishing their supply so that they don't feel "forced" to supplement for the duration of their bfeeding experience is the next best thing. The best thing is to let the baby determine the supply, but if the mom doesn't have support and/or the baby's latch/mom's milk isn't getting it going, pumping is the next best thing. I've had LCs tell me that moms get discouraged by the pumping because it's so much work and they only get drops at first and lots of moms think that they don't have enough to feed their baby, etc etc so it becomes this cycle until of course the mom has to supplement because yes, babies need to be fed.

A little late to the party, but found this off of your posted link in a previous thread. Oh my goodness, this is an amazing article. And you are spot on in everything you said. You put into words something that I learned quickly as a new grad RN and carried with me. I know some folks that are aspiring nurses and I will be sure to pass this along to them. While I did have a communication class in nursing school and learned more than I thought I would, it's not "real" until you're actually out there.

TheGooch: chill. I'm glad Kooky was able to comprehend it and state it better than I could. At no point in time did I say that breast cancer is only ever caused by lifestyle factors. I have breast cancer in my family and yeah, of course it does have genetic and idiopathic components. I was pointing out the fact that the overwhelmingly large perception is that breast cancer is something you get and it's never ever have anything to do with lifestyle choices and you should make them of the highest value patients ever because a woman losing her breasts is losing what makes her female (that was sarcasm in case you didn't catch it). There is also an overwhelmingly large perception that diabetes is something you do to yourself and woe is you because you did it and nothing else that you cannot help (like your ethnicity) had any factor in it whatsoever. Therefore, you deserve no concern. (that was also sarcasm). C'mon guys, we are here to support each other and do the very best for our patients no matter what is going on. Give me the benefit of the doubt and re-read my posts or others if you are taking "offense" to them. I've made this very mistake on AN myself, so I know it's easy to do. I felt like a fool afterwards and make it a point to read "offensive" posts more carefully to make sure I'm not reading between the lines or too fast on my iphone ; )

I think part of the problem is that society has a (misguided) perception that breast cancer just happens to people through no fault of their own (which is not always the case as there are lifestyle risk factors) and Type 2 Diabetes is something you do to yourself, so it's "your" fault (again, misguided). It's fascinating (and horrifying) that those less financially able to take care of themselves are the ones that are developing diabetes from cheap foods with high fructose corn syrup and high contents of fat because buying fresh food like fruits and vegetables is too expensive. 300 years ago, this was not the case. I think this is partly why society places greater value on breast cancer would be placed versus Type 2 Diabetes, even though it's completely misguided.

Looks great! I (in my humble opinion) would add the following: -Cerebral palsy is usually an acquired condition as a consequence of extreme prematurity, not an admitting diagnosis by itself and I would dare say that prematurity is the #1 cause of being admitted to a NICU. Full-term is 37 weeks and above (although ACOG has recently changed so that 37-38 weeks is early term, 39-40 weeks full term, and 41 weeks post-term), but many FT infants still get admitted for problems related to birth. -The RNC-NIC exam by the NCC corporation is more recognized in the neonatal world and is by far more popular for NICU RNs. You need 2 years of NICU experience in order to take it. -The different levels have recently changed by the AAP and as a consequence, you may still see a lot of hospitals refer to things like, "Level IIIB" or "Level IIIC." There was no such thing as a "Level IV," although many tertiary academic centers called themselves that because they truly did offer many more services than other level III units. I do like that they've clarified it and traumaRUS has the correct "levelling." -The NNP program thread hasn't been updated in awhile and many programs have shut down. I wouldn't go off of that list alone, but it can serve as a good starting point. I also created a thread that you can search for that lists the schools and how much they cost in-state/out-of-state (a few years ago), whether or not they require a GRE, etc etc. -Academic centers are an excellent way to get started in a NICU career and they generally overwhelming take new grad nurses. They like them because they are "fresh" and have no "bad habits" that they pick up from the adult world in regards to getting used to adult medicine norms. If you apply for a job, make sure they have a decently long orientation (at least 12 weeks, better to have longer; I had 20 weeks). You will feel like you're in school again because you are learning entirely new norms. It's okay to feel dumb; we all do at times, but especially as a new grad. -STABLE and NRP are good certifications that you can get while trying to make yourself competitive for job applications, although they are challenging as a student nurse. I took NRP as a senior nursing student and then took STABLE as a new grad while in orientation. Hmm...didn't mean to go that far. Hope you're okay with it traumaRUS, once I got going, couldn't help myself! What we really need is a FAQ page in the NICU forum because we get the same questions all the time...

Check out the international forum. It's nearly impossible to work abroad in the UK right now unless you have a EU passport or are the spouse of someone with an EU passport, due to the economy. The NHS is cutting jobs across the board and hiring preference goes to UK, then EU, then everyone else, and there isn't anything out there right now...

You never know unless you apply :)

There are easier ways to make money than nursing :) why expend the energy, especially in today's job market? Louis--she'd still have to deal with the families in the ICU which I don't think she'd like at all...

A patient was allergic to the skin cleaning prep wipes we use and I neglected to tell the nurse coming on. The patient needed blood and an IV was started by another nurse--using the wipes. Thank goodness there was no reaction. There was a sign in the room about it and an allergy band on and a note in the chart...but it's super rare to be allergic to these wipes and had I been in that nurse's shoes, I can't say for sure that I wouldn't have caught the mistake. Felt so horrible about it...especially because I wasn't the one reprimanded about it. Technically, yes I wasn't the one who did the actual error, but it really was my responsibility to tell that nurse, especially since it's so rare. I apologized to the nurse profusely. CHECK YOUR ALLERGIES!

What's your passion? Do you know what you want to do? For me, I would be miserable doing anything but NICU. I would seriously consider quitting the profession of nursing if I couldn't do NICU. I'm reminded of this when I float to other units...last week I went to the cardiac ICU taking care of a toddler that was vented and biting on the tube and flopping around before I got some sedation/pain control underway. No way. Jose. would I _ever_ want to do _anything_ else. That being said, if you really don't care for either more than the other, peds med-surg is a good way to start out. Or you could look at the individual units and see if you like staffing/mgt on one or the other better. But don't be afraid to choose NICU if you think that's what you love :) It's not an enormous leap from NICU to PICU as far as getting hired. Good luck!

Try searching in the NICU forum, under the tab "specialties" and then "critical care nursing" p.s. there is no normal day :) welcome to AN!