SmashleyRN

We are open visitations anytime (to the parents) except between 7 and 7:30 am/pm. All parents/visitors must leave the unit so we can handover our kids to the next shift.

I would say definitely go for it! We always encourage our moms that breast is best and having someone that is able to teach them good techniques is so helpful! Also, you will have a 1 up on another candidate with no breast feeding experience.

I'm a new grad starting out in a level II NICU and I was also told in school to have med-surg experience before you specialize. However, from speaking to other nurses and nurse recruiters, this isn't really the case. If you want to switch out of NICU later on then I'm sure you can speak to the HR/Nurse recruiters to facilitate that. NICU is a critical care environment and you will be learning skills that are easily transferred to other departments. For example, instead of having a preemie with CHF you may have a 65yo adult with CHF

Mobb Scrubs! http://www.mobbmedical.com They have a wide variety of cuts and styles and being female I love the tops that don't make me look like a box. Oh and their pants are super comfy and the elastic waists prevent any "plumber butt" The only downside is my darker colours I've had for years have faded a bit, but thats to be expected after all the washing cycles they've been through!

I recently graduated this past June and I am about to start on a Level II NICU in a week and a half! I am so nervous and excited its almost overwhelming! My organization offers the NRP and STABLE courses and I also have to get a Perinatal intensive care nursing certificate, which I am doing Sept 2011. I ended up landing this position by talking to the nurse manager from one of the units i did my clinical placement on as a student. She got me into contact with the nurse recruiter who spoke to the manager of the NICU and they agreed to give me an interview! From all of my friends who graduated with me 80% of them got their positions by going through their managers from clinical placements and networking their way in. It seems that just sending in a resume and hoping for the best isn't how to do it.

I'm in Ontario and there are a lot of hospitals that have nicu's it all depends on where you are moving to. If you are moving in or around Toronto you will have a number of awesome hospitals to chose from such as Sick Kids, Mount Sinai, Toronto General, Toronto Western, St. Michael's, Sunnybrook. One of the most notable nicu's would be at the Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) since they take a lot of the most complicated, specialized, and severe cases. Most Hospitals will have some sort of nicu/special care nurseries but they are usually level II units which is just as fun! The nursing programs in ontario do require you to have grade 12 chem, bio etc etc.. If you do not have that then there are pre-health programs that prep you for a program like nursing. they are usually year long programs offered by colleges like George Brown, Centennial, Mowhawk, etc. BScN Nursing is usually a 4 year program and once you graduate and get your RN mostly all nicu's require you to take an additional certificate program that is offered by the same colleges as mentioned before. If you are lucky you will be able to land a new grad job that will be able to accommodate you going back to school to get this cert. Don't stress! It will all work out!

Thanks so much ChickensRN! I loved your little book! I do have a slight advantage with the holding babies and being comfortable around them from my 4 months on a pediatric cardiology unit! Most of our kiddies were congenital and under a year old. I've had wonderful (sarcasm) experiences with apnea since in our step down unit we had a bunch of babes on Milrinone/PGE's to help their little hearts work/keep their PDA's open until surgery and both those drips can cause apnec spells. I remember the transition from adult to pediatric took me a month to wrap my head around. Assessments are so different and factoring in feeds and cluster care! WOW! I've only had one kid with NEC and i hate having babes who are NPO because they just don't understand why they can't eat. I had an amazing preceptor on cardiology! she helped me and pushed me so much! and I just heard from her that the hospital i interviewed with contacted her for a reference!! :yeah:I sooo can't wait to start nursing especially if its with the little peanuts and pickles in the NICU!

Hello All! I graduated from a BScN program in april this year and got my RN registration in August. I did my final placement in a well known pediatric hospital on their cardiology unit and fell in LOVE with caring for infants and children! I just interviewed for a NICU position this past monday on a small level II unit and I couldn't be happier. I feel the interview went very well as the unit manager said to me after the interview "You showed a lot of initiative and that really works in your favour"!! The very next morning I got a call from the nurse recruiter (who I've been in contact with for a few weeks) asking me to fill out the consent forms for a background check and my reference checks and send it right back to her!! I feel really confident about this but I am trying very hard not to hold my breath until a formal offer is given. My question to all you new grad NICU nurses! What did you find was the hardest part about starting in the NICU? I'm trying to see what is (potentially) ahead of me in the months to come.

I just recently graduated from the GBC/Ryerson program and I have to vote GBC! When I started 4 years ago the class sizes were excellent! You were split into 4 sections of about 40-50 people a section. For the major classes like Anatomy, Psych, Theory, etc, section A&B would be together and C&D would be together. When it came down to nursing assessment and nursing practice classes you were split up by section and usually half the section had the first hour and the rest would be in the second hour. That means you only had about 20-25 people in your practical classes which is perfect for learning. Almost all of the staff is really friendly and helpful, but you will have your sour grapes!! There are even some faculty that will come out to pub night and have a pint with the group!