Student Nurse to start in NICU soon

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Hello,

I am soon to graduate from Nursing School with my RN, and I am hired into the NICU at our local hospital. I am also a male. I would appreciate any advice/help/input that people could give me to help make the learning experience more complete and enjoyable. I am really looking forward to the experience, just a little nervous about it. Thanks for all your input.

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

Congratulations! I'm sure you'll do quite well.

If you haven't already done so, buy a copy of Merenstein and Gardner (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0323014712/sr=8-2/qid=1141233641/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-8616194-0951147?%5Fencoding=UTF8) and find your highlighters. Also a Neofax. ( http://www.neofax.com ) Most common drugs? Amp and Cef (Claforan) and caffeine. A perfectly fine infant stethescope can be had for http://secure.usmedicalonline.com/cgi-bin/usmedshop/10-434-032.html?mv_pc=usmed

If you have a hairy chest, wear a t-shirt under your scrubs or some baby will try out his grasp reflex on it. ouch.

Come on back anytime w/more questions!

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Thanks for the info. I have downloaded Neofax for my PDA (trial version right now).

Any other words of wisdom out there?

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Specializes in Neonatal ICU (Cardiothoracic).

Hello from another guy in NICU!!!

It's great to hear you're starting in a NICU! I thought I was going to be the only guy that participated in this forum!!!

Well, I started in NICU last June, and I have learned a HUGE amount of info since then. Buy yourself a few good textbooks. I bought NANN's Core Curriculum for Neonatal ICU nursing. It's great for in-depth research. I also bought Care of the Sick Neonate, which is portable, and I keep it on my desk next to my Neofax.

Don't feel weird about going into an even more predominantly female unit. I love my NICU, and caring for anything from ragingly septic babies on Nitric, to just feeding and bathing my feeder/growers. I now feel like I really could be a great dad someday. Sometimes I forget the male/female psyche differences and offend someone, but we are pretty tight on night shift, and it smooths over. Just remember to be teachable. I often find myself taking more risks than my female counterparts, such as refusing to weigh a critically septic baby on a vent for one night. I don't know if it's because I'm not afraid of overstepping my "boundaries" as a nurse, or because I am just dumb and green. I will do what's best for my pt always. PM me if you have any more questions. I'd love to answer any you might have!

SteveRN21

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Specializes in NICU.

Congrats, and welcome to the wonderful world of NICU!! The best advice I can give you is to always be open to learning new things, and never stop asking questions!! I graduated last May and LOVE working with the babies. We have several guys on our unit, most of whom work the night shift. They continually complain about being in such an estrogen-infested environment, but each one of them loves working with the babies...whether they are taking the feeder growers, or a critically-ill baby on hi-fi. Glad SteveRN's around so you have another guy to talk to! And as much as we female NICU nurses love to tease the guys we work with, we sure do love having them around!

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Congrats on the new job! I'm a male in the NICU as well. There are lots of ups and downs in the NICU - one day it's the greatest job ever, another day you'll want to throw your badge down and walk out. But hang in there -it's truly a privilege to work with the tiniest and most fragile patients in the hospital.

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