Volunteers in the NICU

[RNDreamer]

Hello everyone. I am a student at a 4 year university in NYC and I am starting clinicals in the Fall. As part of my graduation requirement, I must do about 100 hours of community service. I plan to start applying to hospitals as a volunteer at the end of this semester. I also plan to apply to hospitals that hire new grads into specialty units.

Since I won't have any clinicals in the NICU and since I want to work in the NICU after graduation, I would like to volunteer on a NICU unit, or even a PICU unit. Should I even bother asking to be put in the NICU? Is it unheard of? And if there are volunteers in the NICU, what do they ususally do?

Thank you so much in advance.

[hikernurse]

RNs do total care in my unit, but we do have volunteers who come in and hold the babies. Believe me, they are worth their weight in gold :).

I'd talk to the nurse manager of the NICU where you want to end up; although you won't be doing nursing care, the fact that you are dependable and pro-active will go a long way towards finding a job there.

And speaking as a night nurse, if you want to do some of your shifts at night, cranky babies and busy nurses would love you . But, do some of your shifts during the day so your face can become familiar to the manager.

[RNDreamer]

thanks...If I'm lucky enough to snag a position, I'll consider doing a "shift" in the early evening.

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

The only volunteer I've seen on our unit so far worked kind of as a unit clerk, but also helped with stocking, finding/fetching supplies when we were slammed, etc. Not right with patients, unfortunately. Sometimes the Orthodox/Hasidic families have people who live in the area come in on the Sabbath to sit with the babies (because they can't travel), but I'm pretty sure that's all done within the community.

If you come to us, let me know. I'll come say hi. :)

[hikernurse]

The only volunteer I've seen on our unit so far worked kind of as a unit clerk, but also helped with stocking, finding/fetching supplies when we were slammed, etc. Not right with patients, unfortunately. Sometimes the Orthodox/Hasidic families have people who live in the area come in on the Sabbath to sit with the babies (because they can't travel), but I'm pretty sure that's all done within the community.

We're the opposite here, Eliza. Our unit clerks are extremely proprietary about their jobs--they don't even want nurses ordering labs. I can't imagine them letting someone in to do their work for free. I do have to add that they do an amazing job, so no complaints here :).

Would you like holders? If someone has been a cuddler for a while and is willing, they can be assigned a baby who's family lives out of town. They're required to come in 2-3 (or more if they're willing) times a week for a few hours each time until the baby is discharged. OT/PT works with them and they are allowed to feed if the nurse is comfortable with it. The family has to give permission, but it really makes a difference for those kiddos who aren't able to have consistent visitation. I've never heard of a family saying no .

[dcampbell]

I am a NICU RN that has been staying home with her kids. I wonder if my local hospital would be interested in having me volunteer a few hours a week in their NICU?

[texas2007, BSN, RN]

We periodically have some volunteers come around to hold/pacify babies who want and can be held. I wish one had come by today, I sure needed one! I'm not sure of the requirements though. One hospital I looked into before I got into nursing school required a year commitment but im sure it varies by hospital.

[Sweeper933]

We also have volunteers come in and hold babies. The parents have to give permission for them to do so. I'm told that they are a huge help... they never come around on night shift though!

[chescat58, RNC-NIC]

We use volunteers in our unit, they go through a special training. They can take temperature, change diaper and bottle feed a baby. They can also simply hold the baby if baby needs TLC. When we have babies whose parents can not visit often, we assign a primary volunteer for that baby.

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

It sounds like my hospital is a lot more strict about who gets to touch the babies. I know that in the lag time between when I was a student at my unit and when I was actually hired as an RN, I went up to visit once and offered to help out because it looked like they were really busy and was told it wasn't allowed.

[preemieRNkate, RN]

Volunteers in my unit are used to act as a unit clerk. We don't allow them to touch babies. I would love it if we had a program where they could hold babies though!