What did you do before?

[jm0914]

I'm still a student and my dream job is to work in the NICU. It's hard to get into the NICU around here. I know any job is better than no job and so I will try to get any experience I can while trying to get my dream job! so, I wonder what experience you all had before getting the job in NICU? and did it help you land the job? ? thank you!

[Kristen, NICU RN]

I also started in the NICU as a GN. It can happen, good luck!

[katierobin23]

New grad here too! Don't give up hope!

[prmenrs, RN]

I started as a new grad on a Surgical unit, moved to CCU, then to a Cardiac/General Surgical ICU. This was abt the time NICUs were just starting. I went to visit a friend in the "nursery", and promptly transferred, taking a demotion in order to do it. Worked there for a while, became an Infection Control Nurse/Practioner, then some night supervision. That job ended, so I went back to the NICU. Stayed there for the next 19 years, retired. Went back to work a few months later @ another hospital, Level 2 Nursery. Retired again after 7 yrs to care for my mother.

And there you have it.

[tazzie1026]

you can never go wrong with a good year on a MedSurg unit

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

you can never go wrong with a good year on a MedSurg unit

What good would that do a nurse that plans to work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit?

[tazzie1026]

It give you a good foundation. Your able to work on basic nursing skills. Neonatal nursing is not for everyone. I have seen so many new grads start their career saying "all I want to do is NICU" then a year maybe not even, they decide they can't do it. And the only experience they have is NICU.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

That is true, but there is very little that comes over from med surg to NICU. Time management, meds, etc are all very different.

[tazzie1026]

Time management, assessment skills, how to string up fluids. Experience calculating meds, learning how to colabrate with dr/residents, advocating for your patients and family. You learn a lot your first years as a nurse that sticks with you for your entire career

[prmenrs, RN]

Problem is that most of your education is adult nursing. A year in M/S cements all that stuff into your brain. Moving to the NICU then means you need to UNlearn all that stuff and relearn new disease processes, new math skills (How many cals/kg/day; how many ml/kg/hour) because NICU is a whole 'nother world, w/a pt population that might as be another species. Nothing is the same, honest!

It is so much easier to start in NICU if that is where you want to work. You can learn time management, assessment skills (which are significantly different in neonates), etc., in the NICU just as easily.

When I graduated going straight into NICU wasn't an option--they didn't exist! I spent 2.5 years doing adult nsg. It took me over 6 months how to look @ a baby and figure out very quickly if they're ok, because it is totally different from grown-ups. It was like being a new grad all over again. Not something you really want to do twice if you don't have to.

jmo

[tazzie1026]

Idk my experience was different I did 3years of adult nursing and had almost no difficulty transitioning to nicu. I guess it shows everyones experience is different

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

Time management, assessment skills, how to string up fluids. Experience calculating meds, learning how to colabrate with dr/residents, advocating for your patients and family. You learn a lot your first years as a nurse that sticks with you for your entire career

All of which can be learned on the unit where you intend to spend your career, caring for the patient population you need to learn about (and not a population you'll never again care for).