Specialty switch

[grobertson10]

Hello all!

i am currently an ICU nurse with one year experience. I am thinking of moving to NICU or post partum. I just love babies and I know well baby nursery doesn't really exist anymore. Can anyone tell me their experience with NICU and or post partum? Stress level, day to day, etc. i would like something slower paced than adult ICU.

Thanks

kaitlyn

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

There are a bunch of posts on the transition from adult ICU to NICU if you read back through the archives, but if you're looking for a slower pace then NICU might be a good fit. We'll occasionally get the critically ill, circling the drain kiddos, but for the most part even the vented kids are quite stable. Many of our babies are off respiratory support, no invasive monitoring, just learning to eat (i.e. baby med-surg). You may also like NICU because the workflow is more similar to adult ICU--you only have a couple of patients (2-3), and you know them really well.

If you legitimately want 'well baby nursery' style nursing, you could work in a Level II nursery; they only take late-preterm babies with lower overall acuity (no vents, no drips). However, as a former ICU nurse you might get a bit bored.

I haven't worked PP, but I get the sense that it's stressful in the same way that med-surg is stressful: lots of patients, lots of meds (mostly for pain), lots of teaching, and a limited amount of time. A typical assignment might have 4 couplets (mom + baby), so 8 total patients. Patients generally aren't sick, but you do a ton of education (breastfeeding, infant care, comfort interventions for swollen perineums and c-section incisions). My impression (though I'm not sure it's accurate) is that the main medical emergency you might encounter on PP is postpartum hemorrhage.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but I'd highly recommend shadowing if you're able. It would give you a much better sense for the nursing tasks and workflow.

[grobertson10]

Thank you for your response. I am looking for something a bit slower paced. What level NICU do you work at?

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

Thank you for your response. I am looking for something a bit slower paced. What level NICU do you work at?

I've worked at Level III and Level IV (although the acuity was pretty similar since my Level IV didn't do ECMO). I've also floated to Level II nurseries at community hospitals that were affiliated with my Level III/IV units.