Tell me about your job....

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

I am interviewing next week for a new grad position for a local NICU. In thinking about this upcoming interview, I started wondering, "What do I really know about what a NICU nurse does?!?!"

I shadowed in a major NICU over winter break and got to observe what I guess was a pretty quiet day, but I know it's not always like that. However, I loved the environment.

I know these are sick babies; I know they are there for a number of reasons including premature delivery, poor prenatal care, etc.

I know the job involves being on your toes at all time.

But what don't I know? What does an average shift, assuming there's any such thing, consist of?

After doing almost 4 semester of adult med/surg, I am ready to move away from the adults and in to the world of little ones. I want to be in a specialty area and be trained to feel really competent about myself as an RN (and not an incompetent student!) and truly feel like I am making a difference in the world....

Any comments would be appreciated! :redbeathe :heartbeat :redbeathe

[NebraskaRN]

i think that a average shift can be related to your experience as a student with the adult med/surg atmosphere. i come into work and get a verbal report, then i review orders and medications time permitted depending the type of assignment that i have, then i take a quick look at each patient and their pod to make sure that they dont need anything that moment, then i try to plan what i need to do for that shift. at my work we cluster care so when we do care we try to give medication, assess, change the diaper, get temperature and blood pressure, and check ngt/ogt placement if needed, and then feed the infant. if parents are there make sure that they dont have any questions if they do have questions answer them or find the answers. to assess the infants you check the airway and vents or other respiratory machines, check respiratory rate and the work of breathing, girth and feeding tolerance, urine output, stooling, blood pressure, glucose, color, perfusion, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and iv, and in some infants chest tubes and wounds.

[preemieRNkate, RN]

There have been quite a few threads on this topic before, but my abbreiviated answer is there IS no typical day. For example, last night I worked 7p-7a. I went out on 2 transports and admitted one of the babies that I transported. Tonight I hope to have a baby that I have been taking care of pretty much since birth. She is a former 24 weeker, now about 35 weeks PMA. She's got terrible lungs, is still intubated and probably will need a trach in the next couple of weeks. She's just so cute, and the parents are a bit difficult so nobody is going to fight me for her.

Anyway, I know that I have answered questions like this before. See if you can do a search. The fact that you have shadowed in a NICU before is a great advantage to you. Other than the short amount of time I spent in a NICU one day during clinical and a vague idea of what NICU is, I had NO idea what I was getting into. Here I am almost 4 years later, and I can't imagine doing anything else! Good luck on your interview!!

[Preemienurse23]

There is no typical day. # days ago I sat around holding 2 of my 3 babies, and today I had one that I extubated, who still get fentynal, and one who got placed on NEC watch with a new PICC, sump, and blood......It all depends on you and your assignment.