This thread is to journalize the life of an NNP. As we all know to be an NNP one must have been a Neonatal RN in a Level 3-4 NICU for at least 2 years prior to starting clinicals. As for my self, I had the pleasure of 10 wonderful years to learn how to be my best from average sized level 4 NICU in a Catholic institution. I must say having worked at 2 other institutions prior to becoming a Registered Nurse this place really lived up to it’s mission. Passing Nuns in the hallways was really inspiring for me.

Ok, so life happened….

Well hello again! Yes, the first post (above) was actually written about 2 years ago when I was a brand new NNP. I had all these hopes and dreams about my new NNP career and my new online venture to save the world by helping great people like y’all who visit my site. Haha well fast forward 2’ish years and now I am finally taking the leap to publish and go live (even if I’m not ready). What happened in the last two years!?! I was consumed with the life of being a wife, mom, and new NNP in a very busy NICU working way more hours / week then ever had in my entire nursing career. Yeah I’ve put in overtime many times before but not on a weekly basis. Something that one who aspires to become an NNP should know before starting their program is that as a full time NNP… gone are the easy days of “Full Time” equalling 36 hours / week! Most places require an average of 45-55 hours / week. Thats a good 8-18 hours more then you may be used to working. I did say average so, some weeks are great at 32 hours while the next week might be 60 hours… and these 60 hours can be emotionally, mentally as well as physically exhausting. This kind of workload can really change one’s life and have negative effects on your health, mood and even your family relationships. I am happy to say that if you were able to graduate from NNP school without getting a divorce then you’ll likely survive the first couple years of this kind of work.

Long story short… I put in two years of full time employment to ensure I have gained an adequate amount of exposure as a new NNP then I decreased my hours to 75% time which is really more like it was when I was a bedside RN. Life is now manageable without loosing what matters. I get a great deal of hours that help me to continue to grow into the kind of NNP I hope to be all while having more time to enjoy life and still help save the world via this site!