HisKids37

We don't have CNAs or LVNs in our NICU. Good luck!

Awesome! Congratulations! I'm assuming you'll have an orientation program; if so, you really don't need to do anything to prepare. Skimming your Merenstein will be nice because it'll give you an idea about some of the more common disease processes, but your unit will teach you everything you need to know!

NICU is a specialty field, and your preceptor knows that you know basically nothing about it. Your preceptor will hopefully have been chosen as someone who likes to introduce new people to all they need to know to be successful. The most important thing you can do is go in with a positive attitude, a servant's heart, a willingness to learn and ask questions, and probably a little notebook, in which you can write things down so you don't have to ask over and over. Have fun!

I personally think that the NICU is a very gentle place to work. My friends who work on other floors are so physically exhausted at the end of their shift, while I have plenty of time to sit down and hold babies or chart or whatever.

Is this the book you're talking about? Certification and Core Review for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing, 4e (Watson, Certification and Core Review for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing): 9781437726336: Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com

I graduated with my ADN and started immediately in a NICU. I'm sure it varies by area, but where I live, hospitals prefer to hire new grads directly into the department they really want.

At my hospital, an occupational therapist is our developmental care specialist.

Right now I have about 4 hours in class and 17 hours in clinicals, plus all kinds of extra stuff - meetings, time spent in skills lab (no required hours right now) etc.

I had to do the same thing. I was able to print something from the FAFSA website that had all of my IRS information on it, and my financial aid department accepted it.

Try visiting an academic advisor at your school. At mine, there were ways to increase my GPA based on two things: one, replacing old grades with newer, better ones (I hadn't realized that I had to file a request for the old grades to be replaced), and two, expunging a number of my old units based on my current gpa and the amount of time that has gone by. Good luck!

You might want to call the nursing program at your school and ask their advice on this. Mine highly recommends that you don't work at all during the program, but many work part-time, and there might be a couple working full-time. I really can't imagine working a full-time job and doing well in nursing school, but everyone is different.

She's manipulating you, and that is very hard to deal with. You will need to make your own grown-up decisions and let her own her reactions to them.

You will probably need your own laptop if your husband is using the family one most of the time. My laptop is the family computer also, but they all know that Mom has priority, because I do spend substantial time on it writing papers, doing research, printing out powerpoints etc. As far as supplies, the first commenter was correct: your nursing school will let you know what you need, besides the obvious - binders, papers, pens etc. Even with those things though, they might have specific guidelines. I had one teacher who required two 2" white binders. Ha ha! Good luck!

I'm very sensitive too, but you really do learn to temper your emotions. First semester, I would agonize over how was this patient or that one doing. I wondered how nurses every emotionally survived, wondering and wondering how their patients were. Well, I'm only in 3rd semester and already I just don't get as worked up. I care, and I think about some patients, but they don't occupy an inordinate amount of my mental energy any more. You really do just get used to seeing things, I guess. Let your sensitivity be an asset!

I'm in semester 3 of 4, due to graduate in December 2015. I love my program, though I will admit that I am excited to have a break this summer.