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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. :)

We will let babies come off isolation after three consecutive negative MRSA cultures.

We always put temperature probes on our babies in isolettes, immediately. If not you can overheat the baby very easily.

I love this! I am going to share with my unit. :)

Any advice from NICU nurses out there? Good things to get involved with? Good magazines to read? Good shoes to buy? Hi! I started NICU nursing as a new graduate July 2011 and I have learned a LOT and continue to learn something new every day. Good things to get involved with- first, get settled with your unit/schedule, etc. Then get involved with an organization such as NANN and your local chapter, and a unit committee. Good things to read- not sure about magazines, but I purchased a couple of Neonatal specific textbooks that I always keep in my bag at work for quick reference, or to read about conditions my babies have that I don't know that much about. Good shoes- I usually just wear tennis shoes. Not sure if your unit has a dress code, a lot of my friends swear by Dansko nursing shoes but I've never been able to "break them in". If I have a long shift where I'm on my feet a lot I always feel better if I've been in sneakers! General advice- find the nurses that are willing to teach you and watch what they do. Ask lots of questions (no question is too stupid). If you have down time, walk your unit and see if there's anything interesting going on that you could learn from. Practice, practice, practice (starting IVs, lab draws, etc.). If you don't feel comfortable doing something, find a couple "go to" people you would feel comfortable asking for help/advice. Know who your resources are and use them! My first few months I stuck some tape on the back of my badge and put important numbers on it too- lab, my charge nurses, etc. Be confident with parents- they won't know you don't have experience unless you act nervous, but if you don't know something don't try to fake it- tell them you will find out and let them know ASAP. I hope you love it as much as I do. :)

I work in a Level III NICU and with some of our stable feeder/growers we use lullabies too! I've just put Pandora on my phone- there is a great station called "Rockabye Baby" which plays modern-day songs in lullaby versions- enjoyable for nurses and babies. :)

We use a staffing "grid" that determines how many nurses we can use based on census- then from there our charge nurses have to decide whether or not a particular patient's acuity will require them to "tighten up" an assignment- for example instead of giving 2 nurses 2 babies each, if one is really sick that baby may become a 1:1 assignment and the other nurse will take 3 babies instead. It can end up being pretty awful if one of those 3 kids ends up getting sick, but sometimes that's just how it happens.

Our unit has a lot of nurses (think 200+)- I would say maybe 5-10% are men. Some of the guys who work with us have specific reasons (their baby was in the NICU, they were a preemie themselves, etc.) but some just enjoy the work. Nice change from all the estrogen sometimes! :)

Not sure if you've found a place or not yet but there are plenty of great 1-bedroom apartments inside the loop ranging from $750-1500 (and sometimes lower). Depends on what specifically you're looking for- location, amenities, etc.

Hi theatredork,Thanks for your reply! I can't PM yet so if you could message me or email me at [email protected] I'd love to get more information from you! Thanks so much.

Hi, My boyfriend was offered a job in the NYC area, and I am trying to decide if it would be a good move for us based on whether or not I can get a job. I know new grads are having a lot of trouble finding work, but I have a BSN and 1.5 years of experience in a Level III NICU in the Texas Medical Center (90-bed unit, ECMO, bedside surgery, etc.). Will this be an advantage, or are the chances of me finding a job still slim to none? Looking at hospitals like Mt. Sinai, NYU Langone, NY Presbyterian, NY Methodist. Any advice/suggestions would be helpful. Thanks in advance.