NIGHTWOLF87

hello... the best advice i can offer if you want to be a nicu nurse when you graduate, is to know your basics pretty well; such as vs for newborns, how to do a head to toe assessment, etc. the main disease processes that you need to know like the back of your hand are respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis. those are the 2 main dx that the majority of our admissions are first given. if you have a basic idea of what is going on with the baby with these dxs, then you are ahead of the game. everything else will come with time and experience. don't be afraid to ask questions and have confidence in your self. good luck in school and have fun!

so you will be starting nursing school in july? that means you will graduate in approx 2 years or a little less? by then, i doubt that everyone will remember who you were. and who knows, perhaps the staff will be totally different by then, so relax! you have the advantage of seeing both sides of the nicu from a parents perspective as well as a soon to be rns view. and besides, most of the parents in our nicu, especially the micro preemies, need constant reinforcement on even the simplest things. these are highly stressful times for parents, and half the time they forget what we as nurses tell them, so i wouldn't worry too much about it. good luck in nursing school and your career! keep us informed as how things go for you!

1. area of nursing: nicu 2. orientation: was 12 weeks, but has been recently changed to 6 months: 3 months in level ii and 3 months in level iii. 3. nurse/pt. ratio: 1:1-2 in level iii, 1:3-4 in level ii.

"get names of the unit managers for your hospitals nicus and when you get close to graduating, ask to meet with them. tell them your plans and desires to work in their nicu." so you recommend i call the unit director later on once i finish school. how would i present that meeting, i would just like to meet with you to....? are you planning on calling her once you become eligible to do the nicu externship, or when you actually graduate from school?

your best chances of being hired in a nicu a year from now, depend on if their are openings in the nicus at the hospitals you attend to apply at and if they welcome new grads to their nicus. i know here in our nicu we welcome new grads, as we just hired a couple. like neonursetx said, your best bet to get your name recognized when the time comes for your to apply, is to network. get names of the unit managers for your hospitals nicus and when you get close to graduating, ask to meet with them. tell them your plans and desires to work in their nicu. make a lasting impression on them. i know of one case a few years ago, we had a nurse who wanted to work here, but at the time didn't have any openings. however, she was so persistent, that our unit manager eventually hired her, and she has been one of the best nurse's our unit has. so if nicu is where you want to be, don't let anything stop you and don't take "no" as an answer. good luck!

remember seeing that on an older episode of "er".

first of all, congrats on becoming a new nicu nurse! welcome to the club secondly, your orientation sounds super short. in our nicu, they recently expanded the orientation process to 6 months! 3 months orientation in level ii and 3 months in level iii. it had been 12 weeks before it was changed. i can imagine how overwhelmed you may feel. i see that in the new nurses that were recently hired here as well. but fear not! with experience, comes confidence; it just takes time. i'm sorry that your co-workers aren't more "new nurse friendly." that was not the case here in my nicu when i started. i oriented on days before switching to nights, and everyone was very helpful, from my unit manager to the neos and nnps. if you still feel a little insecure, ask your unit manager if you can have a little more orientation. i know our unit manager asks the new nurses at the end of their orientation how confident they feel, and if they still feel a little unsure about themselves, she will allow them to orient to the unit a little longer. last thing anyone wants is a new nurse who says he/she is ready to be on their own, when in reality they are still scared and unsure of themselves. but don't give up! have faith in yourself, and don't be afraid to ask questions! don't just know how to do something, but know why you are doing it. question everything. don't take anything for granted. just keep your head up and don't get down on yourself. you will do great! good luck!

hey korleone... i've been in the nicu for over 3 and 1/2 years, and i absolutely love what i do here. there is soooo much more to do than just feed the babies and put them to sleep. first of all, if you are in the nicu, you are not dealing with normal newborns. the majority of the babies here are premature ones. the smallest baby we have in our nicu now is 23 weeks. you will learn how to start ivs, place foley catheters, manage different types of vents, suction via the ett, place ngt/ogt, and your assessment skills will be awesome. you will learn by looking at the abgs/cbgs, monitor, vents, and the infant how he/she is doing. you will attend c-sections, stat/emergency deliveries, and you will see some disease processes and genetic anomalies that will blow your mind. you will learn how to deal with the family members, neos, nnps, and other nursing staff. you will learn how to manage chest tubes, hold an infant for a lumbar puncture, assist with central line placements (uvc/uacs), learn how to interpret x-rays...you will learn how to respond when a premature infant codes...you will learn how to draw up emergency meds, push blood and blood products, and you will come face to face with your own personal convicitions of how to deal with death. you will smile when the infant you have been taking care of for the past 3-4 months goes home. you will comfort parents during their darkest hours. i could go on and on, but i just wanted you to know that in the nicu, we do much more here than just feed and put infant's to sleep. you are going to be joining one of the more specialized units in any hospital. it truly takes a special person to thrive in this environment. plus, the neos in our unit tend to bond with the male rns here more tightly than our female counterparts. i wish you well on your internship and let us know how it goes for you. good luck!

first, let me say congrats for being a new gn! secondly, i am sorry that you are having a less than stellar orientation on your unit. when i first graduated, my first job was at the hospital that i did my last semester of clincials at. i worked on a medical/oncology floor. the nice thing about it was i already knew the routine of the floor and the nurse's, so that was a big help when i was orienting. but once i was off orientation and on my own...wow...i would get an average of 10-12 patients, plus admissions, plus discharges...it was a time management nightmare at first, but once i got more experience and confidence, it was like, "ok, is that all you can throw at me?" but with experience, comes confidence, and you will learn to adjust. if not, then i would recommmend that you look for another unit. i now work in nicu, and our orientation has been recently changed to 6 months: 3 months in level ii and 3 months in level iii. even when i started here, over 3 1/2 years ago, my orientation was 12 weeks, even though i already had experience (been an rn for almost 7 years now). it is great only have 1-2 patients in level iii and only 3-4 in level ii. just try to hang in there and you can do it. just have faith and confidence in yourself and don't let them see that they are getting to you. some nurses that i have seen in my past experience like to feed on the weak, so to speak. don't let them get to you! keep your chin up and keep fighting the good fight! good luck and again, congrats on becoming a gn!

sorry to hear that you were failed during your peds rotation. fortunately, my experience during the ob rotation was a positive one. i have a great clinical intructor who actually tried to get me and the other male nursing students more involved, because she knew how awkward it is for us. i was able to attend and participate in 2 vag deliveries and 1 c/s. some of the patients i were assigned to at first refused to have a male nursing student, but my clinical instructor would try and talk to the patient's and after talking with them, she was usually able to get them to change their minds and allow me to participate in their care. as far as failing clinicals at my school, you had to do something pretty bad in order to fail (besides not doing your assigned paperwork). if you can say, what exactly did she tell you was the basis for you failing? from what you have said, i find it hard to believe that she would have any right to fail you, since you have been an outstanding student in your other classes. if i were you, i would go talk to the dean of your nursing school and explain your situation. get letters of recommedation from your other clinical intructors stating that you were a good and safe student. ask your preceptors that you were following at the hospital to do the same. if you can get enough people to vouch for you, then you should have enough evidence on your side to get the dean to reconsider and allow you to return to nursing school. whatever you do, good luck and hang in there!

the most comfortable (and expensive) shoes that i wear for work are z-coils. i know some other guys here at the hospital that wear them as well. you can check out their different styles at www.zcoil.com. i would highly recommended them. i have had the pair i use for over 3 years now, and they are still in good shape.

i have always thought that you 'do what you love, and love what you do' type of philosophy. if nursing is what you truly have your heart set on, then by all means, go for it! there is more to life than money. and if you continue on with your nursing career, you can make a pretty decent living with it. you may never make what you are currently making, but you may at least come close. as long as you can financially afford to change careers and still be comfortably and not have the increased stress of trying to make ends meet, then as nike says, 'just do it!'

i'd be glad to help as well.

we flush our peripheral line heplocks with each of our touch times (q 3-4hrs, usually), and we use pre-mixed flushes of 1/2ns with heparin 1:1. as far as as the med line on a uvc, again, we use pre-mixed heparin flushes and run it at 0.2ml/hr continuously to keep the line patent. do you have to mix your own flushes with heparin and ns? our pharmacy sends up ours already pre-mixed.

hello... these are the pre-reqs and nursing courses for the nursing program from the university that i graduated from for 2008-09 academic year: http://nursing.utep.edu/nursing/degree_plans/00_bsn_degree_plan_2008-09.pdf as far as getting your asn or bsn, it is up to you and how you want to advance your nursing career. if you enjoy being a bedside nurse, and basically don't want to advance, then the asn would be your best bet. if you want to advance your career, such as go into management, or teach, then you will have to get your bsn first, and then continue on to get your msn. depending on what school you go to, you might not be allowed to take "upper division courses" such as pathophysiology. i know at the school i went to, you had to actually be in the program to take patho. but you can take as many pre-reqs as you can while waiting to get into the program. ask your mom about nursing school and everything that goes along with it. she is your best source of information on the subject. whatever you decide to do, good luck!