Ellie-Mae

I am in the same boat as you Heather but we have no manager on our floor period. I told my manager the same thing but she acted like she didn't hear me. My hospital's policy is 6 months after you are off orientation you can apply for internal transfer. You must be in good standing with your manager and have had no disciplinary action or write ups during your time on the unit. I talked to other NICU nurses and their unit secretaries (they know way more than some people think) about wanting to be a nicu nurse, not asking for a job, a good word or an interview, they told me that 15+ nurses were retiring in the fall and to keep an eye open for the positions opening up. If I had a manager and I was interested in taking one of the positions (I'm not really a fan of our NICU here) I would have then gone and discussed that opportunity with my manager or maybe a team leader since my manager was hardly ever on the floor even when she was here. I hope you get to transfer! Best of luck

We have mix, there is no less patients because the majority of them are c-sections. And we don't get a choice between being in the nursery or not, if your not in there someone has to be in there. Mostly our babies are breast and I can spend 45 minutes in a room assisting with that. I am required to round every 2 hours not including times when I am called into the room. I don't mind doing my baby stuff and I am usually up on my charting where I leave when the other nurses leave most of the time. But how is 12 patients needing to be in there room every 2 hours safe. I can do it if no one needs anything, I can't exactly so no I can't help your breastfeed or no I can't walk you to the bathroom. I usually can say I will be with you in a few minutes but sometimes that isn't true. I asked a charge nurse for help getting a new vag up because I was dealing with a CHT mom who's meds weren't working and her pressures were in the 200's over 100's 2 days after her section. The charge nurse simply said "are you serious" and wouldn't do it. So I had to deal with the Doc for Patient A, get patient B up and Patient C was being discharged at 10pm so I was doing her paperwork along with answering the pediatricians questions. No one wanted to help me and I don't think that situation was safe at all. We don't have even 11 to 12 nurses employed on nights, we have 25 on days and maybe 10 now on nights, majority of nights is part time so we don't have full staffing all week. On nights when we have 6 nurses its like a present. Most of our babies and moms are high risk so nothing is typical or easy going. Most of our babies should be in a transitional nursery or end up in the NICU by 48 hours. Sorry if anything sounds angry or directed towards you, its not I'm just upset with the position I'm in but I'm scared to leave for fear I won't find work else where or by applying I will burn a bridge with the current hospital I work for. Its hard to vent to people who don't understand nursing so its nice to have a forum where people do understand the frustrations we as nurses face.

Thanks for your advice Ipink, we do couplet care and I have had up to 6 high risk couplets some nights, we are a 30 bed unit so a max of 60 patients when you add in the babies, some nights we only have 3 or 4 nurses scheduled with one CNA. So on top of the 6 moms and 6 babies I have I then become responsible for all of my baby care including vitals, feedings, baths, ect. Which I would be fine with if I didn't have 12 patients. Sometimes I don't think patient safety is a first priority on our floor. We also have no manager so our floor is kind of running itself in that sense. I mentioned to my manager when she interviewed me that NICU was my passion and I eventually wanted to end up there, she seemed unfazed by this. Our NICU is not a place I would like to work, I would like to see more ECMO, vents, surgeries, premies, and birth defects. Our NICU consists of mostly drug withdrawal babies who can no longer stay on our floor and withdrawal on their own so we transfer them, they see the occasional respiratory distress, infection, or micro-premie but the majority of the infant's are there for withdrawals. I can only hope Vandy will have an opening in the fall, I feel like they don't open a NICU spot often

Thanks for your advice Lev, the job description lists the minimum requirements which are: Job requires Graduate of an accredited nursing program and 1 year of nursing experience required. Pediatric experience preferred. Previous NICU, Critical Care, Emergency or ICU experience. That was taken directly from the job listing, I think where my hesitancy stems from is will I make a bad impression on the hospital by applying before I meet the minimum requirements and how do I tell me current employer I want to apply and use them as a reference without burning the bridge with them causing tension or an unfavorable environment if I apply and don't get the option to leave my current job. If any of that makes as sense at all.

I graduated in May of 2013 & started on a postpartum/mother baby unit in September. I moved from New Mexico to Tennessee for this job and I took it mostly because I had put in nearly 100 applications as a new licensed grad and got one interview and one offer which is where I currently work. There were some red flags when I first applied for the job, first HR refused to send my application to NICU and would really only send it to my current unit, the manager had asked me to fly out for 2 days but after my interview and shadow day I never heard from her again until a week to 10 days later so I spend my second day in a hotel room confused and upset. She never called to offer the job, HR emailed me the offer. I was the only new grad out of 7 of us to be put on nights but I requested days. I got a 3 month orientation which I felt was acceptable for my floor but right when I got off orientation I felt like I could no longer ask questions or for help from certain nurses including the nurses the oriented and trained me. Since January I have seen 5 nurses leave (4 of those were on nights), we have also lost a CNA and secretary on nights but my floor continues to fully staff day shift. My nurse manager left suddenly about 2 months ago and we still have no replacement. Guidelines set by AWON which is what we follow says my patient load should be 8 patients which is usually a mom and baby couplet. However I have had up to 12 patients some shifts and that includes total patient care because we are short on CNAs. I feel like I can never ask for help and I end up getting the worst assignments or admissions. My floor is high risk and we take everything from basic postpartum/newborn patients to high risk postpartum and newborns that would typically be seen in a transitional nursery and even sometimes the NICU. The level of acuity of our patients don't affect our assignments or admissions. I never had a desire for postpartum but I was desperate for a job, my thought process was it involved newborns and I eventually want to do NICU (which is what I always wanted) so it was experience that would help. I told my manager when I interviewed I wanted to do NICU and that I didnt see myself doing postpartum forever. We continue to loose nurses on nights with no immediate relief to fill their spots. My dream NICU is vanderbilt and they have an opening right now that requires a years experience. I find myself fighting to not apply and risk ruining my chances there because I'm not quite at a year yet. Is this normal for a new grad to yearn and pine to get out of her/his current job for one that is almost out of reach? If so any advice, I'm very much in love with new born nursing and every time I have an infant that would be seen in a transitional nursery or NICU it feeds my desire and re-affirms my passion for that type of nursing. I would greatly appreciate any advice any nurse could give me!

Hey everyone, I am in the middle between new grad and hitting my year mark of experience (sept marks the year). I have my BSN and currently work in a university hospital that is the regional referral center and we take all the high risk OB patients. Its a 30 bed unit (total we can hold is 60-65 patients including mom and baby) which combines nursery and postpartum, my typical patient load is between 4-6 couplets or 8-12 patients. We are a well baby nursery but typically take on a lot of infants who would typically be seen in the NICU in a smaller hospital, infants born around 35 weeks, infants with blood sugar issues, mild respiratory distress, and drug withdrawals are the typical infants seen on my unit. I've always wanted to be a NICU nurse and took my current position as a way to get my foot in the door in the maternal/child field. Does anyone on here work in a NICU in the Nashville area that would be able to share me with me some tips for applying. I've seen openings at The Nashville Children's Hospital (formally centennial women and children's) and Vandy. I have my NRP certification and will have my STABLE certification in July, I currently don't have a TN license, my license is from NM but it's a multi-state compact so it is valid in TN and I have been working under that license. I did my senior internship in a level 3 NICU. Any help, tips, leads, ideas anything will be greatly appreciated!! Thank y'all in advance! -Ellie

I work in Knoxville right now, I moved and started here in September. I work at university of Tennessee medical center in the mother/baby unit. I don't mind my job and I think Ive learned a ton so far, the pay isn't as high as I know some other hospitals pay but I'm not in a position to complain with this being my first job. I ideal wanted Nashville so bad but I wasn't able to get hired there so this is my settled for it position till I get some experience and can move to Nashville.

If answers from a new grad just starting her first nursing job I will be happy to help you out, Im lacking in experience so I don't know if my answers would help you but if they can I'd be happy to help :)

If you post, please state your: 1. State you work in 2. Years of experience 3. Specialty/unit and work setting (clinic, hospital, prison, etc) 4. Hourly Pay (base rate) or salary 5. Differentials (if any) 6. Union? 1.Tennessee 2. New grad BSN, no experience 3.Mother/Baby at a level 1 trauma center 4. $18/hourly 5.$4 nights, $3 weekends, not sure about any others 6.not sure Cost of living is actually way lower here (I moved from NM) my 900 sq foot apartment plus water/electricity/cable/internet ect totals up t a little under $1,000 a month. I live in a nice area, large apartment, in a great complex. Hope this helps :)

I took Kaplan on my own (the school offered the class but we had to pay for it) and I took my NCLEX around 3.5 weeks after starting Kaplan and I had really similar scores to yours and I passed my NCLEX on the first time with 79 questions and under an hour. I felt Kaplan prepared me the best for the exam and I had access to the Hurst Review as well. I felt when I sat down for NCLEX I was taking a Kaplan review test, it was very similar. I really liked Kaplan and I think your scores are really well, best of luck & I hope you pass!!!!

I applied to UT Medical (waiting to hear back from them) but I'm applying to Vanderbilt's Winter residency program as well. My first goal out of nursing school was to move to Nashville and I ended up with no luck in the job market there since May (we won't count the number of applications for the city). I'm waiting to finish my application till I hear from UT next week but I'm from NM and I'm applying for pediatrics, I want to be a NICU nurse and eventually become a NNP

I won't know till this coming Monday or Tuesday but I hope so! I'm at a total loss if I don't get it so I'm crossing my fingers!!

Oh thank goodness! It makes me feel some what relieved that it is not just me and my applications but that others are experiencing the same thing. I feel like I can call over and over but I get no where with them.

Hey guys, I am a new grad RN-BSN, graduated in May passed my board in June and have been on a job hunt since March of this year. I live in the South West part of the US and very willing to relocate for a job, but I have fallen in love with Nashville and TN. I applied to several position at Centennial medical including their new grad position, OB emergency room, L&D, NIUC and Mother Baby. I'm a little confused on their online application system and was hoping someone else would be able to help me or maybe someone would know what I was talking about and maybe experienced the same thing. OK: I applied for two position (New grad & NICU) back in April or so and never received an email that the position was filled, the application status went to inactive: no longer accepting application and the status of my application went to complete. In June after I passed my board I called them (took me 7 days to speak to someone) to give them my license number and she told me the positions were filled. So I applied to a few other positions after that and all of them since have my application status as application received and some positions have been changed to inactive while some are still active. I still never receive any emails from them regarding anything. So my fear is are they not even looking at my applications any more, I call but I get the same person with the same answering machine every time and I never get called back. I missed the residency program at Vandy and can't really manage to wait till January to start with them. I have applied to other jobs every where from CA to Washington DC and in between. I love Nashville but am I at the point where I'm beating this to death and should give up? Any advice help suggestions comments anything will be appreciated. And I apologize for this being so long

Hey everyone, I'm a new grad (may 2013) and passed my boards a few weeks later. I'm from NM and I have put in over 75 applications since March and haven't even been called, those applications included 17 new grad internships/residencies. So finally after feeling like I reached rocked bottom I was chosen to interview with UT Medical's Nurse Recruiter for a nurse intern position in patient services. I was told a little about their hiring process and it is very different from other facilities. You interview with the nurse manager, if they like you they send your information on to the floor/unit managers, if they like you on paper and have an open position they will call you to interview with them and other nurses on the unit, then they have you shadow a nurse. So I will be interviewing 7/31 over the phone with a nurse recruiter and I have done my research on what type of questions I should prepare for in any interview but since this hiring process seems so unique I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to give me any tips/advice/help/anything regarding this phone interview. its my first and only interview after 75 applications and I would love to not blow it.I appreciate of help y'all could give!! Thank you so so much =)