This is a question that has been nagging me for quite some time.
Why is it so horrible for us to plan out our route? I want to become a NNP and as stated in a previous thread, infants are the only reason I chose nursing instead of completing a tech degree. From what I have seen on this board and a couple of others say, nursing students shouldn't choose their route before clinicals. But many pre-med programs allow students to choose their route beforehand. I even have a close friend who is a pre-med major and they are writing research papers about their route.
Certainly why I dislike adults. They annoy the hell out of me and i will NEVER care for them as a RN. I would rather remain unemployed until I find a NICU job.
When I read this something jumped out at me very loud and clear and I wondered if you had considered it. Have you considered that all those fragile babies that you have such passion for also have parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, who all have more of a stake in that fragile baby than you do and won't be shy at all about hounding you with questions, issues, problems and will be in your face A LOT of the time? You can't avoid the adults because you will have to answer to them all the time, sometimes every hour, day after day.
Babies come with a whole posse of adults around them and instead of taking care of one adult like you might do on a standard medical unit you will in effect be caring for as many of them as it takes for each and every babe. can't get away from it lol adults are going to be right there at every turn!
It could be her downfall but it could also lead to other things. Maybe she'll advocate for more specialized nursing education somewhere down the line that would mean people like me and her could get a bachelors in midwifery or infant health - as in Canada for instance. There is a lot wrong with the way things are now and I don't think questioning it is the worst thing in the world. Being over ambitious and narrow minded can definitely be dangerous. But those qualities in small doses might lead to great innovation and change, too.
i was speaking from my experience on this site in the general sense and working at a hospital, not just referencing this thread btw. Also there's always that subtle authoritarian tone whenever someone is giving advice or speaking from their experience - which as you stated none of us have - that is rampant in not just healthcare but society at large. In another life I'm a collectivist/anarchist/egalitarian and if I'm not mistaken there's plenty of discourse on this very point within academia about how the power dynamic between providers and patients is actually deleterious to communication, providing care, and improving well being. So I can say it applies to the dynamic between students, teachers, and virtual mentors as well. When you assume a position of power over anyone, it kind of turns off genuine exchange.
Sorry, I'm on my phone. I was referring to babynp at the top of pg 6 and the nurse educator who comments after and seems to agree that in their speciality it is very possible to get a new grad job.
But listen, I don't know nothing about nursing. And I agree that this site can be crazy negative. But that's what I like about it. Because if it discourages you from your path, then you were never meant to be on that path
Also want to add that there was a discussion on this thread and throughout this site discouraging nurses from becoming NPs because that role will be obsolete in 10 years.
Certainly why I dislike adults. They annoy the hell out of me and i will NEVER care for them as a RN. I would rather remain unemployed until I find a NICU job. ������
Actually it wasn't about whether the poster wanted to do Med/Surg or not. It was the way they expressed their disdain for adult patients. "They annoy the hell out of me" is a really negative way of expressing a preference to avoid adult patients. Being unemployed rather than caring for adults also strikes me as a poor attitude, but perhaps the poster has no bills to pay and has someone to support her and doesn't have to worry about such mundane things as food on the table and roof over the head.
While OP is willing to move anywhere, she/he does not sound particularly flexible in that she/he will remain unemployed (getting NO nursing experience with which to make herself/himself more attractive the hiring managers in the specialty of choice) rather than take employment anywhere except for the one specialty.
I think the bolded quote from the OP reflects an immature person with a poor attitude. I still think that.
I agree. I actually avoided bringing up the OP's other thread (and had elected not to comment there previously) as I wasn't certain I could address her statements like that in a diplomatic fashion. I have always felt uncomfortable around the elderly (not because I dislike them, but I tend to feel rather awkward around them and have a very soft voice that can be difficult for them to hear if they are hard of hearing). I remember actually being very worried about my nursing school clinicals before I started, afraid I would hate them since most of them would involve working with adults, many of them older adults. And you know what I found? I liked my clinicals. My patients, especially the older ones, were pretty cool people, with some amazing stories to tell! And even though I still wanted to work with neonates, I knew I could work with other patient populations if I couldn't get a NICU job right out of school.
Being uncomfortable with a particular patient population is one thing. Stating that a particular population annoys you and makes you sick is an entirely different matter...and the OP may come to find that her refusal to work anywhere but neonatal intensive care could result in becoming an old new grad with no experience, which could make that desired NICU job that much harder to obtain. That is why so many of us are cautioning the OP not to be so vehement in her refusal to work anywhere else. Not because we're trying to put down her dreams (or anyone else's, for that matter).
I feel the exact same way, Seraphimid. I've been low key stalking this thread. I'm starting nursing school and I know that midwifery is my ultimate goal and it's the ONLY reason I'm in nursing school. I'm in my mid 30s and I'm changing careers specifically to work "with women" in my community, so I'm trying real hard not to roll my eyes at some of the responses.
If you're willing to work hard and forsake everyone and everything you've ever known and loved, it's really not that hard to follow your dreams. ......the more you know [shooting star/rainbow]
It's kind of different when you're older and have life experience to better inform your choices. I'm a 2nd career RN and it makes a big difference when you're investing so much time, money and life into something. You're better able to develop a more cogent path during nursing school. You have a different outlook, you're aware you have less time to get established, you have more exposure to things and more maturity to help carry you through things that younger people might be less able to tolerate. The OP's statements in this thread and others do not lend themselves to paint a picture of a mature person that actually knows anything about nursing and becoming an NP, let alone working in a NICU.
Part of why people caution those who aren't even in nursing school yet (and tend to be young and maybe just a year or two into their collegiate career) is because we know the incredible roller coaster nursing school clinicals is. You can have one idea about something, go and get exposure to it, converse with your instructor and precepting nurses about the real life nursing aspects of it and learn how wrong you originally were about it. I had to be more open-minded because I had no clue about what nursing even entailed when I started let alone what I thought I might end up doing. I did know, however, I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER work in pediatrics, let alone with kids with cancer! My first day in my pediatric clinical RADICALLY changed that. And now, I'm at a fantastic children's hospital working as a hemonc nurse. It's a hard job but, for now, I can't see myself doing anything else. Eventually, I will probably end up going a different path because that's the awesome thing about being an RN.
So, yeah, that's why those of us who actually know what this whole thing is about caution people who aren't even in nursing school yet when they swear to God they are going to work in such and such. They really have no clue yet. And, honestly, the OP's attitude is odious.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Maybe she'll advocate for more specialized nursing education somewhere down the line that would mean people like me and her could get a bachelors in midwifery or infant health - as in Canada for instance.
That is something I will staunchly advocate against. One of the perks of nursing is the flexibility to change specialties without having to return to school. Making nursing education specialized would take all of that flexibility away. What happens to those who go to school to specialize in a certain type of nursing get the first job and find out it's a horrible match for them?
OP (if you're even still reading this) and anyone else who is convinced about where they want to work when they graduate, I went into nursing school thinking I wanted to work in L&D or peds. Guess what? When I got to experience those clinicals, I hated them. They were nothing like what I had thought they would be like. I'm glad I kept an open mind- my senior practicum ended up being assigned to a PACU nurse. I was afforded the opportunity to spend time in the OR during that practicum, and I found my niche completely unexpectedly and in a specialty I never even considered prior to that experience. If I didn't keep my mind open to other possibilities, what would have happened to my career?
If you truly wanted to work in the NICU, you would do ANYTHING to get into one, including spending time working with "dreadful" adults/pediatric patients in order to make yourself more desirable to NICU managers.
Med/surg may not have translated well into my NICU job, but it has certainly made me tougher, more organized and more APPRECIATIVE of the NICU job I have. I work with quite a few nurses who have done nothing but NICU who have a very "princessy" attitude and look their noses down on other specialties, including PP/well-baby RNs. The nurses who have worked in med/surg and other more hardcore areas seem to have a deeper appreciation for the NICU and other specialties in general. Plus they have a broader knowledge base.
I already gave you advice in your last thread, but you clearly just want to rant and stomp your feet and not pay attention to the BTDT crowd. I was very passionate about getting into NICU and wanted ONLY the NICU. Didn't get it. Cried for about a week. Picked myself back up and applied for other specialties, volunteered for March of Dimes, joined NANN, etc in the meantime to make myself more competitive.
Eight months into my med/surg job, I accepted a NICU position with another hospital. I will be celebrating my one year anniversary next month.
While you will be stewing about not getting that dream job out of the gate, other new grads will be getting valuable experience and landing their dream gigs their second or third time around. You, on the other hand, will end up a stale new grad. And there is nothing worse than an old new grad without any experience.
Thanks so much for bringing this topic up! I feel the same way, and have been at the receiving end of what feels like animosity from other nurses other professionals in the field when I mention that I plan on specializing in midwifery even though I just started nursing school. Not just on forums but in real life volunteering at hospitals and at school. I would never have applied to nursing school if it wasn't the prerequisite for midwifery. It's seem like in every other profession, this focus on a goal is welcomed and encouraged, whereas in nursing it is interpreted as a lack of commitment or simply carelessness. For instance I doubt students with aspirations to study law get slack for studying philosophy or anthropology.
I'm not sure about NNP but I know for CNM degrees a lot of schools have changed the requirement for L&D expierence and allow all sorts of nursing experience, even as a doula or CLC. good luck to you and I hope you maintain your aspirations to follow what it is you love and want to do despite discouragement from others.
In order to become an NNP, one usually needs two full years of neonatal ICU experience in a Level 3 or Level 4 NNP.
To be honest, I am reaching the one year mark and feel that two years is very lean, depending on the unit. Midwives, in my opinion, SHOULD have a minimum of two years of L/D experience before taking their boards.
We all started nursing school with some specialty in mind, and I applaud your passion for NICU, but bare with me for a second.
I went into nursing school because I ABSOLUTELY wanted to be a NICU nurse. There was absolutely no other specialty that appealed to me, and I worked in a hospital so I was exposed to every unit. In nursing school, I had the unbelievable experience of doing a clinical in a NICU (my OB teacher worked at the hospital). It was a Level IV NICU, with an international draw - we had patients come to us from 3 different continents. It was unreal. I was so excited to work with babies but I quickly realized three things.
1. Premature babies are extremely vulnerable and you cannot make a mistake. Their drugs are basically are all given in micrograms which can be very daunting.
2. You need to have an exceptional foundation in peds to work in a NICU. If you don't have an incredible preceptor as a new grad, I can't even imagine how you would be able to learn everything you needed to work with kids unless you had some experience in a med surg area.
3. However, those were not the reasons I chose another specialty. My biggest problem with NICU was some of the parents. I had no problem with loving parents who cared about their child. Unfortunately, that was not the type of parent I saw frequently. I saw the cocaine mom who never came to visit and I saw the 22 year old mom on her 5th kid or I saw the 2 parents who hated each other so much, we had to assign them different visiting hours with security present. The last draw was getting attacked by a "father" who wanted to see his kid, but he forgot the "mothers" last name and he was not allowed in.
As for pre-med students, they have no more support than a pre-nursing student does about their interests. The vast majority of nursing and med students change their minds about their specialty so nurses are not out-of-line to question your dedication to a specialty you do not yet work in. You may very well end up in NICU, but what I am trying to say is that an open mind will help you more than an attitude of absolutes. An open mind opens a lot of doors. If you haven't worked or practiced in a NICU, you don't know what you don't know.
After nursing school I worked on a cardiac floor for years and absolutely loved it - high intensity, but adults who could make their own decisions. After 20 years as a nurse, I am now am a college professor who guides others to their dreams. I go out of my way to give them experiences in their area of interest, some even more passionate than you, but I am never surprised when they change their mind.
I truly hope you find your dream job some day, your passion will serve you well.
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Extra Pickles
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Quote from Shookclays
When I read this something jumped out at me very loud and clear and I wondered if you had considered it. Have you considered that all those fragile babies that you have such passion for also have parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, who all have more of a stake in that fragile baby than you do and won't be shy at all about hounding you with questions, issues, problems and will be in your face A LOT of the time? You can't avoid the adults because you will have to answer to them all the time, sometimes every hour, day after day.
Babies come with a whole posse of adults around them and instead of taking care of one adult like you might do on a standard medical unit you will in effect be caring for as many of them as it takes for each and every babe. can't get away from it lol adults are going to be right there at every turn!