❓ The question I get asked often is how long it took me to get comfortable in my job being a NICU nurse. ⠀
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🙈 And truthfully, I don’t think I will ever feel “comfortable.” There is always so much to learn and I will always have questions. Every day can be so unexpected and things change all the time. I will never know the answers to everything. ⠀
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😊 But what I can answer is that my hospital provided me the best resources during my 4 month long orientation. I had preceptors that guided me through everything and taught me all I needed to know. Plus my hospital provided lecture classes every week for 6 weeks to teach us the basics including patho, explained policies, and taught us why we do the things we do. It was so helpful to connect the dots from lecture into our daily practice. Seriously felt like nursing school but for NICU specific info! 😬⠀
😌 So I can say it probably took me at least 1 year to feel the most comfortable with handling my patient assignments on my own and I was able to slowly connect the dots. ⠀
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🥰 And 2 years into working, I felt comfortable to finally be able to teach other new nurses and share the knowledge that I have learned. And so I took a preceptor class that my hospital provided, to be able to learn how to mentor and educate others. ⠀
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😉 So moral of the story, everyone’s comfort level varies and everyone defines comfort so differently. But I think having the necessary resources and people you can go to and ask questions without feeling judged is sooo important!! And don’t ever settle for comfort! Continue to open your mind to knowledge and growth!
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