Tips for Scoring a Nursing Job in the NICU!

Great news! As a nursing student or a new grad, you absolutely can land a job in the NICU! Use these tips below to maximize your chance for success!

1. Do well in your Maternal/Newborn class and clinical, including networking at your clinical site and with your instructors! Translate your enthusiasm for newborns into academic and clinical excellence!

Your instructors may have connections at local hospitals and their recommendations could be extremely valuable when it’s time to search for practicum sites, externships, and jobs.

This brings me to my second point…

2. Secure an externship/preceptorship/practicum in the NICU! We LOVE externs on my unit. Our externship program serves as a pipeline for hiring, and many of our externs take positions as new graduate nurses with us! On my unit, externs function like a tech: they assist with cares, but they get the added bonus of being pulled into emergencies and other unique learning experiences!

3. Volunteer in the NICU! If externship aren’t available near you (or if you’re still in high school), see if your local NICU has a volunteer cuddler program! It’s a great way to get your foot in the door and see how a NICU really operates. Plus, you get the added bonus of extra snuggles too.

4. Perform your capstone/research project on a topic that’s relevant to the NICU or maternal/newborn nursing! This is a great way to demonstrate your enthusiasm for evidence-based practice and NICU nursing practice!

5. Consider earning NICU-related certifications! Most jobs provide training in STABLE or the Neonatal Resuscitation Program as part of onboarding, but having these certifications in hand when you’re applying for positions is another way to show enthusiasm for the NICU.

6. Join a professional organization as a student member! Many professional organizations, including the Academy of Neonatal Nursing, the National Association of Neonatal Nurses, and the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses, have discounted student membership options. In addition to receiving journal subscriptions, you’ll have access to communities which can expand your network and increase your awareness of job opportunities.

As a nurse experienced in another specialty, you might be wondering how your experiences will seem relevant to a niche specialty like NICU. Let’s focus on how to sell yourself and your strengths to discuss how you’ll be a strong NICU nurse and a good fit for the unit.

1. Talk about what you’ve learned from your nursing experiences so far, and how you’ll use them as an asset in the NICU! For example, if you’ve worked on a busy Med/Surg unit, you could discuss how you’ve become excellent at time management and prioritization.

2. Emphasize any leadership roles that you’ve taken in your nursing career! This includes roles such as: coach/preceptor, charge nurse, committee member, or work on unit-based projects! You may not have experience working with babies but you should definitely highlight what would make you an asset to the NICU.

3. Highlight any awards or certifications that you’ve earned! In the NICU, we don’t just care for the babies… we care for entire families! Having examples of outstanding nursing care or accolades from patients will make your application shine. And even if you’ve earned a certification in another specialty, mention it - that shows prospective NICUs that you’re committed to professional excellence.

4. Arrange a shadow day… and walk in with an open mind. The NICU is a completely different world! A shadow day can help mentally prepare you for what’s to come in orientation, and it’ll give you insight on that particular NICU’s culture. I remember that, even during my shadow day as an experienced nurse transferring from Mother/Baby to NICU, I loved seeing my unit’s culture, teamwork, and camaraderie.

5. Acknowledge that a lot of your current nursing knowledge may not carry over to NICU. I felt humbled by my knowledge gaps at different points in orientation. It was striking to me how comfortable I had to become with feeling uncomfortable about starting over and knowing very little.

6. Articulate clearly why you want to transition from your current specialty to the NICU. Be prepared to say more than, “I want to cuddle babies!” Describe what it is about the NICU that makes you want to work there. Maybe you had an experience with a family member in the NICU, … or maybe you want to care for families in a nuanced, detail-oriented critical care environment. Whatever the impetus for your desired transition to NICU, make sure that you can speak to it clearly.

As an experienced NICU nurse, most interviewers will want to know why you want to leave somewhere comfortable and familiar to start fresh. Your keys to interviewing success are to be able to speak eloquently about your current experience and professionalism while marrying it to your prospective future unit and their needs.

1. Be prepared to discuss why you want to work in a different NICU. In my experiences as an interviewer and as a prospective experienced NICU applicant to other NICUs, this is the first or second question asked 90% of the time. Delivering a constructive, concise response that reiterates your experiences while ensuring that you don’t bad mouth your current unit is key - after all, the NICU world is so small! Examples of reasons and phrases that you can use include:

• “My family and I are relocating from [insert location here]. The NICU at [hospital] appeals to me as an applicant because…”
• ”I’ve worked in a level 2 NICU for the last 2 years. I am ready to expand my skill set by caring for the patient population in a level 3 NICU.”
• “I’ve enjoyed working in a level 3 NICU for the last several years, but am interested in the opportunity to work more with [micropreemies, surgical patients, patients with HIS, patients with chronic lung disease]. I appreciate the opportunity that your NICU has a [Small Baby, Surgical, Cooling, BPD, etc.] team especially for these patients.”
• “While I’ve enjoyed working in a children’s hospital, I am interested in pivoting my career to a NICU in a hospital that also performs deliveries.”

2. Describe how your current NICU experience will be an asset to your prospective NICU. Now’s a great time to speak in detail about your great contributions in your current NICU and how they’ll be beneficial! Discuss skills including precepting, charge nurse, specialized training (cooling, small baby unit, PICC lines, transport, etc.), unit-based quality improvement projects, and any additional professional certifications related to the NICU that you’ve earned.

3. Arrange a shadow day! Even though you already have NICU experience, unit culture is SO different from hospital to hospital. The interview process and any associated shadowing time is not only for the unit to interview you - it’s also a great way for you to interview them! Talk to nurses working in patient care to get a deeper understanding of the unit “vibe”, including what they like and dislike about working there.