RUNBNursing

Hi! I worked for NFP between 2017 and 2020. I really enjoyed it but towards the end I got a bit bored especially with the virtual visits during the pandemic. However, it's super niche and the nurses I worked with had been there for years and years and they loved it. As a single mom, it was perfect fore because it was super flexible and I could schedule my own visits. Your caseload is typically 25 clients and you have to compete max 50 visits a month. I would schedule 2 to 4 visits a day and would allow one day a week for charting. My visits were 45mn to 1.5 hours long depending where in the program they are. I would say set hard boundaries in the beginning because these girls will get attached to you and try to contact you at all hours of the day.

Supposedly we were checking sitz bath to avoid burning the patients (??). The worst was if I started off with 3 couplets because then I would get 2 or even 3 admissions. This hospital is a catholic hospital in Central Jersey where the pay is $5 less than the nearest hospital. They were big on being a magnet hospital and trying to get some sort of perinatal certification which is why they were making all these changes. Another thing I forgot to mention is that after 6 months they "train" you for 2 shifts on the step down NICU and then they can float you there. I was floated twice and it was a nightmare. I left for a postpartum home visiting job that pays me $4 more.

That sounds a lot more reasonable. The half hour vitals was insanity and I felt bad for the moms that just wanted to rest. Our duramorph patients would get q1h respiratory checks for 24 hours, it was so dumb. Measuring 2 voids of 500 was dumb too because sometimes you would end up measuring like 4 times because the patient would void say 200ml the first time, 100ml the 2nd time, 200ml the 3rd time, it and we still needed to keep measuring because none were over 500.

I'm in NJ. When I was hired I was told that the ratio at this particular hospital is 5 couplets and if I would be able to handle that. I wasn't sure what was "normal" so I said it was fine. No I know it was a red flag.

Lately, we have been getting 6 couplets on my postpartum floor. Over the past year, administration has also added a lot of new policies which means more work for us. This includes measuring 2 voids after admission (used to be 1 of at least 500), more frequent vital signs and postpartum assessments of mothers with high QBLs (500mls or more for lady partsls, 1000mls or more for sections, half hour vitals and assessments for 2 hours, then hourly for 2 hours), we are also charting postpartum hemorrhage risk for all patients, Temps of sitz bath, q hourly respiratory rates for patients who got duramorph, and new protocol for new BPs of over 140/90. We are also charting if the patient had is vaccinated against covid but not offering vaccines. This is all great and all but it's too many changes to dump on us too fast. This is all on top of all the entitled parents who treat you like a servant and complain about you, and all management cares about is press ganey scores. This is all just becoming too much. I've been here for just under a year and I'm don't. At first I was so excited to be working in acute care, to finally be a "real nurse". That has worn off and I am so glad I am leaving soon. Took me working here to appreciate that I am a real nurse even if I work outside of the hospital.

Hello! I know this post is a bit old but I worked for NFP for 3 years. Feel free to ask me questions.

My son was 3 years old when I started with NFP so he was in preschool (free where I live). I could drop him off before work and for a time he stayed in an afternoon program and I picked him up at 5:30 but eventually I could schedule my visits so that I could pick him up at 3 and drop him off with family if I had more visits or go home and chart. It is very flexible and the way our program did it, there was no micromanagement as long as you got the work done and your visits in. I would do 2 to 4 visits a day (lasting 1hr to 1.5hrs) and would chart afterwards at home or would try to dedicate one day a week to charting. It really depends on your area. I speak Spanish so I would get a lot of the Spanish patients who also worked so they would need late visits (4, 5, even 6pm), eventually I started limiting the amount of patients a took that needed late visits. I would work 9 to 5 most days and one day a week 11 to 7 or something similar. Some days I would have my visits in the morning then go home for the rest of the day and chart, or go into the office in the morning and have visits later in the day, it was very flexible. With covid everything was virtual and to be honest, it bored me a lot and I hated being at home 24/7 which contributed to me leaving. Pay and benefits highly depend on your area. I heard that if the program is through the health department, pay is not great. Our program was through a home visiting agency so the pay was decent (almost the same to what I am making now as a bedside nurse). There are always pros and cons. I miss living a normal schedule and not working weekends and holidays and nights, but I like the actual work that I'm doing now better. This is very temporary for me while I'm in school. I plan to eventually work in primary care when I graduate which I feel is a middle ground between the two. Good luck!

Hi! Yes, I was able to get a job in mother/baby in a large hospital, I think my NFP experience helped me! I left NFP in October. Ask me anything!

Like the previous poster said, it depends on average deliveries per month. The hospital I work for has on average 400 to 450 deliveries per month. On day shift there are generally 3 nurses in the nursery that do everything you described. On night shift there are usually 2. I've had nights were I have 1 or 2 deliveries to attend all night and nights where I have 3 or 4, have never had 5 but I know it happens. We are required to show up for csections immediately after delivery and for lady partsl births no more than 45 minutes after delivery so sometimes if we have too many births close together the charge nurse will go to one. We find this works well and allows a good balance. We are trained in both postpartum and nursery so we could be assigned to either although there are nurses who have preferences and are more likely to be assigned to one or the other, I personally don't mind either way.

Thank you so much for your your advice, I think you touched on a lot of important points. I know its not comparable, but I went through my BSN program with a newborn and working as a PCT at a big hospital in the evenings and sometimes nights, I found it was doable for me. My son is 6 yo and very independent now. I get a lot of help from my partner and my sister. The manager knows I'm in a DNP program, she assured me that even if there is no full time position immediately after orientation, I could definitely work full time hours as Per Diem, although I would be the first to be canceled if census was low. She also said we all have a fixed schedule and would know it much in advance, giving us plenty of time to switch days if we need it (ie when I have school). My current job is less stressful physically, but one of the main reasons I want to leave is the stress of always feeling like I'm on the job, like I've never done, and the difficulty separating home from work from school since its all happening at home. I have decided to move forward with the position and am feeling optimistic ?.

The reduced paid training is definitely BS. This is a non profit catholic hospital so I guess maybe that has something to do with it? Their new grad internships are very competitive since they are the main perinatal center in the area and I guess no one complains. I am willing to take a HUGE paycut to finally get into a hospital and plan to definitely reevaluate after a year.

Thank you for your encouraging reply. I was offered the job and will be taking my med exam on Monday! 7 couplets sounds like insanity to me! I hope they treat me nice as a new grad. I agree that coworkers can make or break your shift so I'm hoping mine are real team players.

Hello all! I need some advice about an offer I got today. I'm in 4 year, part time, doctoral program (women's health nurse practitioner) which I just started this month. I currently work a non clinical 9 to 5 job doing home visits with first time moms. I decided to look for work with 12 hour shifts as it aligns much better with my program and for the clinical experience. 2 days ago I interviewed for a mother/baby position at THE perinatal center in my region, known for the most yearly births than any other hospital nearby (5000+). These spots are coveted even though they come with a reduced pay "internship". The internship is basically an 6 to 8 week full time orientation, the pay is reduced to $20 an hour (from a base pay of $32) and afterwards there is not guarantee that I would get a full time position. The nurse recruiter said it is very unlikely I would be put on per diem as they require experience for a PD position, most interns get full time positions, and some get part time. It all depends on availability and performance. Since it's a big hospital (3 postpartum units) the nurse recruiter said even if I don't get full time, I probably won't have to wait too long until a full time position does become available. I have a young son and bills to pay! Not sure if this is the right move to me, but this is the first interview I've gotten in months of searching for work since getting into the hospital with no acute care experience has proven to be very difficult. What would you do? Thanks!

Hello all, I need some advice! I just interviewed for a position in the mother baby unit (nights). This hospital has the most deliveries in my region (5000+) a year and they are known for their maternity units. They are rarely any open spots in this unit and they are so sought after that new grads at this hospital do an unpaid internship (basically orientation) before getting hired and tons of people do it. I couldn't afford as a new grad to be unpaid for 6 to 8 weeks so I worked elsewhere (home visits with first time moms) but am ready to try bedside. Since I'm technically not a new grad (been at my current job for almost 3 years) but have no acute care experience, the nurse manager told me I would have to do the internship at a reduced pay, not sure what the reduced pay is, didn't think I should ask until an offer was extended. But I do know base pay is $32 an hour (I currently make $36 an hour). I would love to work at this hospital and the reduced pay doesn't bother me (too much), but what does is that the NM said their norm is 5 couplets per nurse. That seems like A LOT to me, since I believe the recommendation is 3 to 4? I did clinicals there back in 2015 and I can't remember if the nurse had 5 couplets, but I do remember the amount of work seemed doable, the environment was very welcoming and the nurses seemed very happy. I do know that the unit always has techs, sometimes one per nurse, who can do a lot, from removing foley catheters to drawing blood on moms, they are paid well and take their jobs seriously from what I saw. I also know the nurses aren't responsible for hearing tests, there are nurses designated for the nursery, and an NICU, so mother baby nurses don't have to worry about phototherapy or babies in observation. Is this normal? I haven't been extended an offer yet but I wanted to get opinions about this. Thank you in advance!

I have definitely considered branching out to other specialties that are "easier" to get into. I definitely need benefits for myself and my son. I've looked into outpatient surgery but those positions seem to be even harder to get into than hospitals. I think working full time is more important to me than sticking to my specialty (need to pay rent and bills!) So I think branching out to other areas is definitely something I want to consider. Thanks ?

I think you're right, a clinic job would probably be the most beneficial, but I really need to work full time, which is why I chose the part time track. I'm attending Rutgers and I've heard many good things about their program and clinical placement, I'm hopeful that if I were to switch to postpartum, their training will be sufficient.

My program starts in 2 weeks, its a part time program and I will begin the clinical portion in 2 years, right now the program is an asynchronous online model due to COVID, but even before COVID, in person classes would be once or twice a week in the evenings. I would like to start a hoapital job ASAP so that when clinicals begin, I would be there long enough to be able to have some flexibility with my schedule. I have worked in the hospital before as a tech and did many doubles during nursing school, I am confident I can take it. But you're right, its a completely different environment, thank you for your insight, definitely gave me lots to think about.

I had my son right before my sophomore year of nursing school, your support system is key. It also takes a ton of discipline and organization. I did not go out to any parties or social activities for 2+ years. You can't be afraid to ask for help. I had the support of 2 sisters, my mom, the father of my child (sorta), plus his mother and sister. I would look at my schedule before the semester started and was familiar with everyone's schedule and would ask if they could babysit at certain times. I had to make sure everyone was on the same page. For example sometimes I would leave at 6am for clinical and leave baby with my sister. My sons father would pick him up at 9am, then leave baby with his mother from 3pm until I could pick him up at 8pm. I would remind everyone the day before. I would work on weekends and any evenings I could spare without jeopardizing my studies. It was 100% worth it, been an RN for almost 3 years now, my son is 6 years old, we're enjoying life ?. You can do it!

My end goal is to work in primary health and/or prenatal clinic. I do believe a hospital job would be more stressful than my current job, but eventually my 9-5 hours will simply not work with clinical hours for school as they will be in outpatient settings.

I think you're probably right, I live in Central Jersey and moving out of state is not an option. I have been going back and forth about doing medsurg but the specialty director of my program has told my my experience in my current job is more valuable, but the problem is I won't be able to keep this job when clinicals begin due to the hours so I might just have to start applying to non maternity positions.

My program is the primary health track, so I plan to eventually work in primary or prenatal care. I will definitely not be doing any deliveries ?. Clinic would definitely be more applicable to my future goals but the hours are not conducive to the program because clinical hours are usually done during the week at 9-5ish clinics and primary care centers. I have thought about the medsurg route but have not decided if it's worth it for me. I have worked as a tech in medsurg/tele and I very much did not enjoy it, but I understand beggers can't be choosers.

Hello all! I need some advice on how to proceed in my current situation. I graduated with a BSN in 2017 and started my career in nursing with Nurse Family Partnership. My position is considered public health, I do home visits with first time, low income mothers. Lots of education involved (especially about pregnancy, breastfeeding, and newborn and infant care). However clinical duties are very minimal, I do manual blood pressures, infant measurements, health histories, and bit of "triage" when a client calls and ask what to do about a sick baby. I took this job because my son was just beginning preschool and with very little family support (single mom) this job fit perfectly with his schedule and gave me tons of flexibility. I am staring a women's health DNP program this fall and have been applying to hospital jobs for 3 months now with no responses. I was advised that a hospital schedule (12 hours shifts) is easier to keep full time vs my current 9 to 5. I also want to get more clinical experience before I finish the program in 4 years. My son is older now and I have a great partner and working 12 hours shifts is finally a possibility for me. I have been exclusively applying to postpartum and antepartum jobs. I have applied to L&D but I know those are even harder to get. I have revised my resume countless of times, personalized all my cover letters to fit the hospital values, etc, and still nothing. I have probably put in over 40 applications to 6 different hospitals in at least 3 different health systems. It seems that my non acute RN experience is hindering me. What else can I do? I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Hi amb, I cannot reply to your private message as I do not have enough posts. In an ideal situation, I would totally not care about the pay as I understand this is an amazing learning opportunity that many people would do for free. However, I have a toddler and I am his main provider. I have tons of family support and can get someone to watch him while I am away but I really do need decent $. Could you just give me an idea, more or less than what I stated before? Also, I would be commuting and hour and half. I already go to school full time, work part time hours, and am raising my child so I know I can thrive in crazy schedules. Thanks

Hey, I applied for the summer 2016 externship program and have scheduled an interview. They have also invited me to apply for a fellowship that focuses on peds oncology, stating that the compensation would be $13.55/hr. I was wondering how much you guys were paid throughout the externship? I currently get paid a but more as a tech in an adult hospital but would take lesser pay to work in peds. Thanks!

here's a link to the New Brunswick school of nursong curriculum for reference: http://nursing.rutgers.edu/students/curriculumarchive/RevNBCurriculum.pdf