I know there is a neonatal nurse here, Help please!!

[Buckeye5]

I know someone on the site is a neonatal nurse, I just can't remember who it is. I need some information for my DD who is a high school senior and thinking about neonatal nursing as her career choice. She needs to make up her mind really soon, to get into the nursing program in the fall, or possibly summer because spaces fill up quick due to only taking a specific number of applicants fue to a shortage of clinical hospitals. If you are here, you could either respond here and I will check or pm, thanks so....much. Traci

[SewCrafty]

for you Traci

[Valerie in WA]

That's me. Sorry, I'm having computer problems at home. I'll PM you with my email.

[Buckeye5]

Thanks for both of you responding to me!!!My DD#2 has decided that she wants to work with infants, she loves them. She wants to be a neonatal nurse, at the time when I posted, I wasn't sure if a nurse had to take special classes and specialize in this, but after I saw a friend over the weekend that is a nurse, she says no. Is this true? She said that you just have to graduate from nursing and maybe do some volunteer time or something like this in a neonatal room (it looks good on a resume later) and when applying for nursing jobs, request Neonatal department. Is this true?? Can you give any advice or ideas? I would appreciate it. Also, I worry about her lifting patients during clinicals etc. because she is the one who had back surgery last year at 16 years (basketball injury) and will have back problems the rest of her life. But the nurses I talked to said that usually there is another nurse to help with lifting etc. My DD also realizes that some of the babies will die. I talked to her about it, and told that dealing with parents and family members may be difficult at times too. She said she understands and that because she has such a strong faith in GOd, ( I call her my spiritual child) she will be able to handle it. I would appreicaite any feedback, thanks Traci

[baxjul]

Usually you go to nursing school, then apply for the job that you want. If they want you to have extra training, they will let you know. Generally in nursing school, you learn about all aspects of nursing, by that I mean: infants, ER, OR, etc...

[sixfreds]

I do believe to be in neonatal you do need extra training,
I know that when the triplets were in the NICU all the nurses there did have special training. We were there a long time, one was in for 6 weeks one in for 8 weeks and one in for 9 weeks (they were 10 weeks early) so we got to know the nurses very well and they all had special training to be in the NICU now I don't know if it is the same for everywhere or if it depends on the level of the NICU were were in a level 3.
BUT nursing school is where she would have to start no matter what she choses as a nurse...

Eileen

[McD]

I am not a neonatal nurse but Wesley was in NICU with a collapsed lung and all I have to say is that those nurses are the best thing God ever did for us. They treated my son like he was there own and they were so patient when I called 3-5 times a night....god bless em

[Valerie in WA]

Our hospital refers to us a 'specially trained Registered Nurses.' That training can be - and often is - on the job.

EVERY hospital should offer a new graduate an extended orientation period - about 4 - 6 weeks. During that time, the newly graduated nurse is paired with an experienced RN to take care of a single group of patients - the same number and acuity of patients that one nurse would usually take by herself.

Some hospitals go beyond orientation and offer 'residency' to new nurses, especially new grads. The Resident Nurse gets a good 8 weeks of orientation, as described above. Then for another one to four months after that, she takes care of her assigned patients without the direct supervision of orientation... BUT her patients are carefully selected based on her level of learning, and there is a designated support person she can go to for help during the shift.

We get nurses in our NICU that have been nurses for a long time, but don't know anything about babies- usually they've worked med-surg or adult ICU. Usually they do fine with a 2 - 4 week orientation. When I came here, I had a strong pediatric background. I recieved 3 shifts of orientation. But I don't take care of the very sickest babies. We are a Level 3 nursery, and I do level 2 and the grey area we call "two plus". To take care of Level 3 babies I would need another 3 shifts of orientation, but that's building upon the experience I already have.

Level 1 nurseries don't exist in many communities anymore. Level 1 is normal newborns. We room them in with the mom, so the post-partum nurse is taking care of them.

Level 2 nurseries take care of babies with a wide variety of issues, ranging from newborn jaundice, to prematurity, to collapsed lung, to poor feeding, to low blood sugar. Some babies are on IV's. Many are tube-fed. And some receive intermittent IV medications (such as doses of antibiotics). Some also require oxygen, warmers/incubators. All are on heart, breathing & oxygen monitors.

In my nursery, the gray area of 2+ covers babies on nasal CPAP (like some adults need at night - only for different physical causes), and sometimes babies with both IV's and arterial lines (usually into the umbilical artery).

Level 3 nurseries take care of babies intubated on ventilators and those requiring continuous IV medications, such as insulin (happens in preemies, but is not diabetes) and dopamine (and of course, all the things done in Level 2, as well).

The big requirement for the NICU nurse is that she be able to work well with the families of the baby. Helping them learn to care for their baby is a critical job function, as they will be the one taking the baby home in the end. When the baby is still too ill for typical handling, such as holding & bathing, the nurse will be busy educating the family about the support the baby is requiring, and can help them find small ways to interact, such as by quietly holding the baby's hand, or cupping their hand around the baby's bottom.