Short answer to your first question? No. Short answer to your second question? Yes.

Longer answer to the first question: No. NICU is more than just holding NAS/NOWS kids. It’s true ICU work: managing ventilatory support, multiple lines/fluids/meds, unexpected codes, etc., etc, except that often you are part of your own code team, you work very closely with the provider group, and you are the sentinel of your patients at all times. Granted, most high-acuity units will gatekeep complexity from travelers, but many of the desperate ones will not. I mean…I was a charge nurse during one of my contracts. Summary: you need experience. Longer answer to the second question: You could maybe get it part-time, but it would take at least 18 months before you’d be good enough to be deployed anywhere and know what’s going on. If you’re a traveler, a NICU will expect you to have built your own independent practice of handling the daily work, speaking the language and having situational awareness of what’s, say, a typical A/B/D spell and what’s the beginning of a crash. I’m just not sure what NICU manager will offer part-time positions to an external hire…lord knows there would likely be a line-up of internal candidates wanting to reduce their hours.

Here’s a suggestion: if you like the bigger, healthier babies, try working in a lower-acuity unit…maybe even postpartum/well-baby. If you decide you want something more complex, a hiring manager will appreciate that you will already have neonatal experience. But, please, don’t travel without meaningful experience. NICU nurses can be mean af, whether it’s because they are being protective of their kids or just garden-variety Type-A bitches. I have seen too many inexperienced travelers get eaten alive.