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Miya
Student
Rochester, Minnesota
5
Questions
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What made you want to be a NICU nurse?
I'm in 10th grade at Mayo High school, and I also attend a program called P-TECH. I am doing an assignment where I research the job I want to have when I am older.
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Maureen Komperda
Nurse Practitioner
41
Answers
Elmhurst, Illinois
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Maureen’s Answer
Miya,
Wow! You are far in on a specialty career choice in nursing. Now in healthcare, there are many abbreviations NICU can be Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or Neurologic Intensive Care Unit.
I am going to assume you mean Neonatal ICU. One of my rotations for my bachelor's degree was in the NICU but this was many years ago.
These little neonates need a great deal of tech to continue thriving:
a ventilator/endotracheal tube for breathing, monitor for measuring: electrocardiograms, carbon dioxide, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, and more, intravenous pumps for medications: antibiotics, anesthetics, analgesics, vasoactive agents. These little people need nasogastric tubes for feedings and central lines for medications. As this field has grown exponentially, I cannot comment on anymore specific tech needs.
This can be a very challenging and difficult career. On one hand, you will use your brain a great deal to problem solve these patients. On the other hand, the parents, family and friends of the neonate will also be your "patients". There is a great deal of psychosocial needs as part of your job.
Fifteen years of my career was spent in adult medical ICU where some of our patients died inspite of the healthcare teams' efforts. This can be a difficult career journey. As I tell all nurses, you need to take excellent care of yourself prior to going into this career as much of your time will be spent caring for others. Make sure you take care of your own medical, psychological, spiritual, physical needs before heading into this arena.
Before starting your journey as a nurse, I would spend time either volunteering or working in this environment. Also I would spend time working in medical-surgical or pediatric settings prior to working in ICU as you need to learn to prioritize patients who need you urgentlyand emergently. I started my career in the ER of a major medical center in Chicago, IL where I saw tragic and inspiring patients. This is not for the weak of heart! Good luck on your career path Miya.
Wow! You are far in on a specialty career choice in nursing. Now in healthcare, there are many abbreviations NICU can be Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or Neurologic Intensive Care Unit.
I am going to assume you mean Neonatal ICU. One of my rotations for my bachelor's degree was in the NICU but this was many years ago.
These little neonates need a great deal of tech to continue thriving:
a ventilator/endotracheal tube for breathing, monitor for measuring: electrocardiograms, carbon dioxide, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, and more, intravenous pumps for medications: antibiotics, anesthetics, analgesics, vasoactive agents. These little people need nasogastric tubes for feedings and central lines for medications. As this field has grown exponentially, I cannot comment on anymore specific tech needs.
This can be a very challenging and difficult career. On one hand, you will use your brain a great deal to problem solve these patients. On the other hand, the parents, family and friends of the neonate will also be your "patients". There is a great deal of psychosocial needs as part of your job.
Fifteen years of my career was spent in adult medical ICU where some of our patients died inspite of the healthcare teams' efforts. This can be a difficult career journey. As I tell all nurses, you need to take excellent care of yourself prior to going into this career as much of your time will be spent caring for others. Make sure you take care of your own medical, psychological, spiritual, physical needs before heading into this arena.
Before starting your journey as a nurse, I would spend time either volunteering or working in this environment. Also I would spend time working in medical-surgical or pediatric settings prior to working in ICU as you need to learn to prioritize patients who need you urgentlyand emergently. I started my career in the ER of a major medical center in Chicago, IL where I saw tragic and inspiring patients. This is not for the weak of heart! Good luck on your career path Miya.