ftr_bb_catchr

OK I know you've probably heard this a thousand times but.. I'm a nursing student and I need to interview a nurse whom I admire (that would be you NICU people). The TWO nurses I know personally are both on vacation right now and the assignment is due Monday before either of them will be home. I work in L&D right now but I'm pretty darn certain I want to be a NICU nurse so I thought this would be a good place for me to come... there are a few (OK QUITE a few) questions so if anyone is willing to help me out THANKS THANKS THANKS in advance. Fell free to PM me if you don't want your business in the street. Here goes... 1. Degree type? ADN, BSN etc. 2. Best job as a RN? 3. Current job? Length of time? 4. Describe job responsibilities. 5. What did you do to prepare for your current job? 6. What do you like mopst about your current job? 7. Least? 8. Best advice you'd give to a new graduating nurse. 9. Best advice to give a nursing student to survive nursing school. 10. Most important thing for you about being a nurse? 11. Most important thing a nurse can do for a pt? 12. What do you do to foser coopertive, productive relationships with: Ancillary Staff? MDs? Patients/Families? Nursing staff (CNA, LVN etc.)? 13. Best career advice you've received? 14. Best career advice you've given? Thank you SO much!

I say YES. I debated this myself... I'm half done with my first semester now and I thought about taking the semester before nursing school off but some folks recommended Med Term so I went ahead took it. I'm SO glad I did. While everyone else was cramming notecards for the med term section in nursing school I was taking a bubble bath!!!

Nope... as long as they have a baby and the financial need they can get it (even during pregnancy). LOVE YOUR PICTURE BTW! Absolutely gorgeous.. when is Baby due?

I saw this on the Kangaroo Care video (fascinating BTW) and I was AMAZED! It's so primal and instinctual. I LOVED it. Wish I had seen it before I was done having babies.. though I can attest to the fact that if you co-sleep with no shirt on that baby WILL find the breat LIKE IT OR NOT!

What part of California are you in Mimi? Just curious.. the hospital I work at (as a Labor Coach) pays $31/hour as well for new grads. I'm in the Central Valley.

I think orientation is probably the similar at most hospitals... They go over policy and procedure, body mechanics, infection control, employee benefits, etc. Kind of an "all you need to know" kind of thing (and in my case it was BOOORING). Ours lasted a week for people in patient care with an extra three days for RN's. That's what you can expect, from orientation anyway! Congrats and good luck!

Thanks all... I appreciate your comments. I do think that one of the greatest things about nursing is the diversity! You can almost anything that your heart leads you to!

Do you find when people find out what you do they say things like "How can you do that?" or "I could never work in the NICU it would be too sad." I'm a nursing student, leaning towards NICU, and when we inevitably get into discussion about "what we want to be when we grow up" and I say NICU, I hear varied comments, some of which I don't know exactly how to respond to. I get the vibe that some folks think if you desire a career with neonates who might not survive, that you must be cold, callus, unfeeling or all three, otherwise you wouldn't expose yourself to this possible pain. Of course we know it's just the opposite, but.... Do you hear this? Do you just take it as a compliment? How do you respond?

Ah ha.. I was one of the first to respond in this thread. NOW I'm almost half-way through my first semester and I am (for now anyway, until I see my most recent quiz score) maintaining the 'A'. With my feet wet, for those of you who aren't there yet, I'll tell you this. The written/lecture piece isn't the difficult thing for me. There is a lot of reading and just basic volume, but it's not any harder than physio or any of the other pre req classes. In fact for me, in many ways it's easier! It's makes much more sense now that you know all the background stuff to apply it! The thing that makes the A hard to get (or maintain) is that there are only 390 points possible in the ENTIRE class (14 quizzes, midterm and final). With so few points available you really can't miss too many. The quizzes, at 20 points each, aren't an A unless you get a 19. That means you can miss a total of 35 points the whole semester! I remember being in prereq's though and being so sad at the thought that I'd have to kiss my A goodbye and so scared (after hearing that A students don't make good nurses) that I would just be lousy! It's all coming together though! Be it A or C it's not the grade, it's the person! I've found that is really is about the journey... I've met great people and made lifelong friends (and I'd trade my A for them anyday anyway!) Good luck to all!

I applied for one and only one. I didn't get in the first time (as they changed reqs to say you couldn't have classes in progress). I decided to apply one more time (figuring that since my program was GPA based for admittance I'd probably get in) and if I didn't get in that time THEN I'd look at all the other options. I got in on that second try and I'm glad I took that route. I'm an outloud thinker too so I know what you're going through... I felt like that 7 months of waiting to start was total torture but I made good use of my time by taking classes for my BSN. You have to follow your heart and do what works for your family and I for one have faith that the Lord has a plan. The class I'm in, and the friends I've made, I have no doubt this is where I should be!

Our scrubs are either pastel or navy blue (no red, black or gray only happy colors) but we are required to wear a patch that says "Maternal/Child Health" and there is a bright pink stripe on the badge. It's pretty noticable and patients are told to look for it. No locked doors but there is at least one secretary by the door before you come through and getting through her would be a task in and of itself ;o) Plus we have seperate staff and visitor entrances. It's a pretty good system I think.

OK I'm one of those... a labor "coach" and while I don't force my moms to do anything that doesn't feel natural to them, I haven' yet had a mom (or dad or gramma for that matter) say that coaching was anything but helpful. Most of them in fact have an overwhelming feeling that they "couldn't have done it without". This is of course not true, but my point being, from the frontline, I think coaching does help moms, and everyone else for that matter. Of course I'm partial ;o)

The other one is "hon". I hate hon especially if it's someone my own age calling me it!

WOW! That's excellent! I searched the internet for something like this but couldn't find it on my own. I'm snagging that baby right up.

Thanks SO SO much. I asked a (male) friend of mine, who speaks Spanish but is not hispanic, about how to ask about breatsfeeding.. he said something to the effect of (in Spanish) "Is the baby goin to eat from the tit?" I had to laugh. I'll pick that book up. I have a flip chart thing. Speedy Spanich for Medical Personnel