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Please feel free to PM me- I can answer these in detail for you. :)

I actually relocated from Texas to NYC in February and had a couple job offers (NICU/PICU). PM me if you have specific questions! :)

Be prepared to deal with a lot of family teaching- I know you probably dealt with family issues on the adult side as well, but families who are in the NICU are often scared out of their minds (even if the baby is there for something simple, it is very frightening to them). You have to continue to be patient with them and often explain the same thing numerous times when they are overwhelmed. Also, maybe mention something about how you will have to use your assessment skills more? (Not that you don't now, but the babies won't be able to talk to you to tell you what's wrong- you will have to rely on your skills and intuition). Patient advocacy is another biggie since they can't talk either. Sorry I don't have a lot to comment on the personal side, looks like others have already covered ethics. :)

Hi all, I am in the process of interviewing for a PICU position at NYP's Weill Cornell campus and have some questions for those who work there/have worked there as I can't find any recent threads on the topic. 1) What are holiday shift/weekend shift requirements like? 2) What kind of kids are seen in their PICU? (acuity, etc.) What is the staff:patient ratio like? 3) Do you like the work environment? I already had an interview with HR and I am interviewing with the manager later this week, but I am trying to get a general feel for the unit before I go in. Thanks in advance!

I got an interview applying through their website. I have 1.5+ years experience in a high acuity Level IIIC NICU. Thanks for the response!

Hi all, I am interviewing at NYP soon and I have a couple questions for you all that currently work there- What are the weekend requirements like? Is the closest subway station in an area where I could walk after dark to the hospital by myself? Is it a far walk? Any advice or information would be helpful!

We have been slow in recent months but are seeing a boom too! Especially with high acuity kiddos.

The Medical Center itself is great for ICUs, but there are plenty of outlying branches of their hospitals that also have great units- just depends on how far you want to commute and where you end up deciding you want to live. UTMB in Galveston is good too.

Loved reading this- thanks for sharing!

Housekeeping cleans our bedspaces, and our techs clean the isolettes/cribs. We change our isolettes/cribs out every 30 days. Honestly, we have discussed bedside nurses cleaning bedspaces in the recent weeks- I feel that we are a lot more protective of our babies and may do a better job than housekeeping- sometimes they do a great job but I have watched them do not-so-great jobs too.

What type of unit are you looking to work on? That may factor in which hospitals are the "best" to work for. I agree with the previous poster about finding out where you want to work first and basing your home search on that- there are lots of great suburbs outside of Houston that are a good commute.

We have a specially trained transport team on our unit that were former bedside RNs- they no longer do bedside care and only work as our transport nurses now.

Keep trying! I still struggle too, but if my podmates have patients who need IVs, I always ask if I can help to gain more experience. Practice makes perfect. :)

I always take a nap before my first shift. If you can work them in a row it helps too. When I get home I have a routine and try not to do things like watch TV, etc. that may wake me up. I sleep with a fan for white noise and keep my room dark. Melatonin also helps too! I switch back to a "day" schedule when I'm off so I usually sleep for 4-6 hours when I get home, then go back to bed around 11pm. Some weeks are easier than others, you'll find what works best for you!

I got lucky and my first catheter was in the OR with a patient who was already asleep for surgery. I work in the NICU now though, and it's incredibly frustrating sometimes to try to cath itty-bitty girl babies! It's also hard to try to maintain the sterile field sometimes- helps to have another nurse help/watch you to catch any errors. :)