My major is nursing and i wanted to be a neonatal nurse, how hard is it to get this particular position ?

I come from a large medical family and NICU positions are easy to get in hospitals unless there is a large internal demand for the postions.

The reason why alot of hospitals are willing to hire new grads is NOTHING you learn on a med/surg floor applies to a NICU. Everything is different from how you take vitals to taking blood, and neonates don't respond to medication in the same way toddlers and children do.

NICU Nursing is a very highly specialized area and adult and even Pediatric nursing just isn't even close.

My sister is going for her doctorate to be a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner...this is the ONLY Nurse Practitioner specialty where you have to have 2 years of experience as a NICU-RN before you can even apply to the program....and that isn't just her school, that is at every college that offers it.

You cannot have experience in any other field, such as acute care, ICU, etc...it's either NICU or nothing.

Why? Because they aren't the same.

It will take you several years of nursing experience. Try working on a med/surg unit or peds first.

the hospital i worked in...you would work a few months on the floor and then they would train you for specific areas.....

Some hospitals will train you immediately to be a NICU nurse (neonatal intensive care)---mostly as a side effect of the nursing shortage. What you can do, is your senior year for you final preceptorship, you can see if you can shadow a NICU nurse so you see first hand if you really like it, and if you do you can use that as a contact to help secure a job as a new grad.

That's what I did when I went to work in the emergency room!

While some facilities will hire new grads into the NICU, most require some kind of regular med/surg experience. Peds med/surg would be ideal. It's always recommended to start out in some sort of med/surg field as a new grad to hone those assessment skills and get a broad exposure to many kinds of conditions and treatments before moving on to specialize, especially if you intend on specializing in a critical care environment like NICU.

Depends on the hospital. I have two friends that went right into NICU after graduating. I think if you know that's what you want to do there is no need for med/surg. But on the downside if you never experience med/surg and you decide you don't like NICU you might be in a culture shock when going to another floor. Good Luck!!!:) Nursing is a great field!!!