Transferring to NURSERY/NICU from Telemetry

[RNMomma91]

Monday is my first day in the well baby nursery and I'm so nervous. I have been a full time day shift nurse on very busy Telemetry unit for 7 months. I will now be a part time night shift Nursery/NICU nurse. This is in the area that I have always wanted and I feel lucky to get the opportunity so quickly but I am just so nervous. Any advice you could give would be appreciated.

[smmm]

Congrats on your new position! Hi, I just started NICU about 5 months ago. Time management is crucial, especially when you have few kids on the same feeding schedule. NEVER be afraid to ask questions, you do not want to answer for your mistakes with "I didn't know" or didn't want to bother anyone. I work in a level 3 and it gets crazy sometimes. We usually have 1:2/3 ratio, and sometimes I feel like a stepdown level 2might be easier. Less noises and craziness but higher pt ratio. So far I have not experienced bad parents, overall parents are very greatful and almost afraid, but there are always few nuts. Good luck and feel free to reach out with any other questions!

[ssrn13]

Sorry this is a little late, but I agree with the above statement, ask lots and lots of questions! I've worked in well-baby and NICU and babies are seriously a whole different ballpark, they're not just miniature adult bodies. Get as much experience assessing normal infants as you can, it will be much easier to detect when something is not right...and trust your gut instinct. Babies will often compensate pretty well and you won't know what's wrong until they're really deteriorating (like term babies who get sepsis) if you aren't watching careful enough or if you write off abnormal symptoms for whatever reason. It never hurts to have someone else double check something you're not sure of, whether that's another nurse/charge nurse, RT, etc. Working with babies is the best thing I've ever done, you will love it :). Best of luck to you!