Neonatal Nurse
A neonatal nurse is a nurse who works with newborns from birth to about four weeks, or longer. Generally speaking, they are involved in providing primary care to newly born babies. The word neonatal is a combination of other words for “new” and “birth.” Depending on where they are employed a nurse in this field might find themselves working with healthy newborns in addition to any babies born prematurely or with serious health issues.The nature of this specialized type of nursing, and any nursing for that matter, requires great attention to detail, a cooperative attitude towards effective teamwork with colleagues and family and an open mind receptive to perpetual training. This career can be quite rewarding and is a relatively new field when compared to other nursing specializations.
What Neonatal Nurses Do
Day to day, a neonatal nurse might be required to monitor several babies at once, change diapers on a schedule, feed newborns and administer medication. Sometimes they might help answer any questions parents have about their new addition to their family. Accurate documentation and record keeping are becoming highly important and this will definitely be a large part of the responsibilities of a neonatal nurse. There are three levels of neonatal nursing in terms of how the nurseries in which they work are characterized. Level I is usually reserved for healthy babies with no known issues but this level is slowly disappearing because the time for a new mother and baby to remain in the hospital after birth is decreasing more and more. Level II is meant to be for babies with some type of intermediate issue such as mild premature birth, the need for monitoring or simply more time needed at the hospital for other treatments. Lastly, the third level, Level III, is meant for babies that need the most care after birth such as those requiring incubation, IV transfusions or very close monitoring.
Explore and Plan Your Career Options
To become employed as a certified nurse of this type does require some planning and organization. If one happens to be in middle school or high school, for example, and knows for sure this is the career for them, the best first thing they might do is speak to a career counselor. Expect to attend college for two, three or four years towards a degree is nursing. One of the most intriguing things about modern technology is the fact that some courses are offered online, either through online colleges or at a traditional brick and mortar institution. Some clinical laboratory courses might require physical presence in a laboratory, so all courses might not be available over the internet. There are a lot of resources out there if one is interested in going back to school, taking online classes or preparing for a career change. Just make sure any credits that you enroll for transfer and that the institutions are accredited. After graduation there are certifications, professional examinations and continual training to be completed once one becomes a neonatal nurse. This is a very specialized, and very rewarding, field and requires a lot of careful planning.
