NICU Nursing

i am finally in my final year of nursing school (something that i thought could never be accomplished). in my spring 2011 semester i had a life changing experience that really opened my eyes. i actually had the opportunity to do a clinical rotation at comer children's hospital in chicago. like every nursing student, i really did not know what i wanted to do when i completed college or what department to work in. however, one night at clinical i was presented with an opportunity that few have; i was able to go to the nicu for a few hours of clinical.

being excited for a new experience, i grew weary if i could actually make it a few hours seeing these babies the size of your hand with numerous tubes and bandages the size of pencil lead laying hopelessly in beds. the nicu was a huge eye opener. i instantly fell in love with them. i loved the feeling of holding a baby when the nurse changed the bedding. most of all, i loved the feeling of when i was feeding the tiny peanut; it made me feel like "this is what i was supposed to do." i instantly had butterflies in my stomach. i loved watching this baby eat; it made me feel a sense of accomplishment.

in reality, i am scared and nervous to start this journey. i am scared of the bad times but anxious for the good. does every nicu/ icu/ nurse in general feel this way? how do you know if you are supposed to be a nicu nurse? :heartbeat

just a few thoughts.
I think you know your niche when you understand there will be good and bad, but get those butterflies. Enjoy your journey.

Consider checking out the NICU forum on there. Go to Specialty on the top. Choose Critical Care Nursing. Then there is a link to NICU. There are plenty of threads on this very topic if you search back a bit. Plus lots of other great info if you are interested!

It's a fairly universal experience for new grads to feel nervous and "dumb" even though they are usually exactly on track considering their amount of experience. I felt like crap most days while on my orientation in NICU and 2.5 years later, yeah, it goes away. Never completely, but mostly.

Thank you so much. I will check that out!