NurseDevonL

Well, I definitely have learned a life lesson. I have been an NICU nurse for almost 4 years,2 of which I spent at my last job. After giving notice, I left said job in favor of a level 4 NICU for the experience. I thought I would like all the excitement and highest level of neonatal acuity. I however was wrong. Ecmo is not my cup of tea and the company has made 3 drastic declines in benefits in the short time I've been there due to being bought out. I have trouble sleeping at times and dread coming to work which I didn't before I feel awful that they've trained me for about 3 months. I've stuck with it, trying to get over it...but I simply don't like it. My old boss has granted me an interview for a contingent job back on my old unit, I know she will offer it to me. I also have an interview for a seperate part time or contingent position in my old hospital system. I am desperate enough to get back into the old system that I'm willing to live without benefits for awhile. Anyone done this?? I know I could offer to stay contingent at this current job...but I really want out. If my old place offers full or part time soon , I want to be available. I'm dreading quitting this job, the manager is very nice. Its just not for me.

Hey all, I have been working the NICU for almost 7 months, from being a new grad. I moved 6 hours away from home and plan to stay at least 1 year. I don't have a support system here, so i dont have my Nursing school buddies to ask questions to or lean on. I know a lot of new grads come here to this forum and thought maybe someone would like to have a little fact-throwing pen pal relationship via this website! We could send one another something we learned at work that day,questions,or just share experiences. I know i have already had A LOT of ups and downs and would love to be able to share that with someone going through something similar. Let me know if anyone is interested! :redbeathe

Hey Danielle, We are a lot alike,i moved pretty much exactly 6 hours from home for my first job! No friends,no family and no boyfriend for the first 2 months. I cried,i sat and watched too much Tv, i turned to junk food. But here I am, 6 1/2 months later and still standing. I told myself I would do this at least a year before I went back home and I'm gonna do it. I personally moved to work NICU after 7 months of searching in my homestate as a new grad with no luck. Its hard, and if you want that experience sometimes we need to make hard decisions. I have grown up and become a better person in my opinion and know that having experience will open MANY doors for you after that first year (or even 6 months) Be strong, do it to better yourself and know you can always go home! If you need support or a listening ear feel free to PM or email me :) PS-I definately concur with the NO MORE school right now. You will have enough on your mind.

in clinicals I met an ICU dr.... i nearly died Dr. Tran!!! lol you may not think its funny unless you know these videos, but I knew them and whenever I heard his name i would LOL! *warning video is somewhat raunchy in content* PS-In OB there was a Dr. Stinken...oh man lol

My friend who works in LTC told me this one and I die laughing when i picture it everytime lol She has a patient who is a tiny old woman and a HUGE fall risk (confusion,history of falls,weakness,etc.), this facility is very much against restraints, and I guess she had already fallen once before with the use of a bed alarm so they resorted to drastic measures with her. They give her this concave mattress right on the floor in the middle of the room so that the patient just kind of sinks right into the middle of the mattress and cant get out. Then all around her they fold out big layers of padding too, just in case. Well my friend checks in on her and sees her straining and almost toppling over onto the floor reaching both her arms out over the side of the special mattress, so my friend rolls her back over to the middle of the mattress, reorients her and leaves to check on others. Well she comes back later and all the padding is folded and piled up in one corner and the lady says "I cleaned up!!" lol She is still trying to fall even from a matress inches from the ground! I guess she does this CONSTANTLY lol

Post this in the Ohio Nursing forum and I'm sure you'll get responses!

I experience the opposite, I work rotating shifts in a level III NICU so I am on both days and nights regularly. Nights: ALL fluid and line chages(with babies that sometimes have 8 pumps all going at once) all fluids and lines are changed q24. Art line transducer changes Baths (3 nights a week) Complete bed changes Weights Measurements, code sheet updating ALL labwork (unless stat daytime labs) Parents still coming in Same amount of meds and treatments Days: More admits/discharges Rounds More parents Nights is STRESSFUL for me.:eek:

OK, this is really gonna sound weird but I've been making myself sick all night worrying about going in to work tomorrow (my 2nd shift on my own off orientation) I work NICU. I am a very anxious person in general, I take Xanax (prescribed) a lot before work which I do find to be helpful. I have HUGE issues with guilt, and feeling like I am a bad nurse. (I had a lot of guilt in nursing school as well) I know I am inexperienced and that has a lot to do with my performance if I believe it to be sub-par, but sometimes I feel guilty about things. For example, I do a lot of sterile gloving at work, a lot of the times the procedures aren't even actually sterile, but we try to just keep it as clean as we can. Most times it goes fine, but sometimes I will glove, and feel as if maybe a bit of the glove grazed my hand or something and thus got contaminated. I've had times when I've regloved because I worry but then other times when I second guess myself or worry about time and think "its not truly sterile anyway and I don't even know if it touched me", if it was blatantly obvious I touched the glove I would re-glove but these are iffy times. Ugh, wow I really sound crazy right now I guess another example would be patient admissions, when I even just think of them I get queezy, im terrified of them because I haven't really done many and now on my own I feel I wouldn't remember what to do. Because of this feeling I find myself not wanting to do them at all, thus I feel like I am a lazy nurse and here comes the guilt again. I guess its just when there are times at work when I feel rushed and like I'm not doing things as well as I know I can, I feel very guilty about it later, like I dont deserve to be a Nurse. I know I care and that I do good things too, and I love my patients and familys, but I am consumed by regret and self-loathing when I do things in haste. .....has anyone every felt anything similar?...and yes, I need to go to therapy I already have an appointment.

hi there! i just wanted to know if anyone here works at u of m hospital and how much exp you had when you were hired. i am a grad of macomb community college, and knew i wanted to work nicu. well needless to say with the job market in michigan it wasnt going to happen. thus, i launched a nationwide search for a nicu job to gain experience. i got a few offers and now have worked for 4 months at another university-teaching hospital (magnet too) in their level iii nicu :)! i love it and though i hate to be away from home, i know this will pay off in the end. my dream would be to work in the holden nicu at u of m...i plan to work my current job atleast 1.5 years for decent experience and to give them service back for orienting me (though i have no contract). does anyone know how hard it is get in to work at u of m? how much experience did you have when you were hired? also, what can i do to make myself stand out to them or make myself more appealing? i will have nrp, s.t.a.b.l.e and bls...but do they require acls and pals? thanks for any info...i miss you michigan!!!! :redbeathe

that is SO funny that you say a lantern and a bird, here is my RN celebration tattoo :)

Thank you for the info and advice! Since both of you recommended STABLE, I just bought it from amazon.com! The general policy thing is a great idea too, I'm going to try and get my hands on that ASAP! Thank you for the experience with the preceptor..your situation is kinda what scares me, but I should just brace myself and prepare to be given lots of constructive criticism. I hope I can keep up!!

Thank you for the advice, I will most definately do that to help me picture the patient while I learn :) I just am overwhelmed by all the different diagnosis and treatments, facts and figures and meds, and I havent even started!!! lol I am the type of person who likes to feel like "I know this, I have a handle on it" so I just feel a bit uncomfortable knowing I'm coming into this job with not much information at all, and loads of responsibilty. I want to help these babies and their families, im just getting scared!! : (

Hello All! Let me say off the bat that I love Allnurses. This site has already helped me immensely as a new grad and I cannot wait until I have some exp. under my belt and can return the favor to others on here! My query right now is this: I'm starting my 12-16 week orientation in a NICU at a University hospital in about 2 weeks, and I am hyped...but lately I'm also getting a bit terrified. I graduated back in May and havent been on the floor since, and I am moving out of state to get this (my dream job). This puts even more pressure on me to succeed. I am just scared I will be too slow on orientation,make mistakes or need to ask for help too much, though the manager did say they "werent scared" of new grads. Do any of you wonderful NICU RNs have any tips on important things I should study and/or start memorizing? Important meds? Anyone have report sheets or "quick fact" sheets? I am already reading "The handbook of Neonatal Intensive Care" Any replies are really appreciated, thanks again all! :loveya:

I graduated May 2009, with no prior medical background at all. However, I was DETERMINED to get into the NICU no matter what. I joined NANN back in March (the National Association of Neonatal Nurses), i attended a 3 day neonatal conference and did CEU lectures from NICUniversity.com and printed them out. I put proof of all this in my portfolio I bring to interviews as well as an evidence-based paper I did back in school on NEC (a preemie problem). I took my search out of state, I am in Michigan and the market here is ROUGH. It took about 6-7 months and hundreds of apps, I landed about 6-7 interviews,which i drove myself to (Wisconsin,Indiana,West Virginia and others) finally at the 7 month mark I got 4 hospitals interested in me at once!!! I think I started to interview better and I also feel that positions are opening up right now around Dec-Jan. I got my job in NICU, i start in 2 weeks :). My advice: Beef up your resume with volunteer work (if you have done it) and lectures you have watched (find them on the web!), it shows you go the extra mile! Write a nice cover letter, and change it a little depending on the job. Bring a portfolio to the interview, I always bring also a cheap little folder that has a copy of my resume,transcripts,NANN membership,etc.etc. Sit down one night and REMEMBER situations you have encountered in clinical, GOOD and BAD. write them down and try to remember details, this will help you immensely with answering behavioral interview questions. Look at your list before each interview! Always expect "tell me about a tough patient/family" and "tell me about a conflict you had to handle" Good luck in your job hunt, it WILL happen!!! :redpinkhe

No prob! I'll cross my fingers for you!