Neonatal Nursing
Neonatal is a word used in the context of newly born babies. Neo means ‘new’ and natal means ‘birth’. Neonatal nursing hence means care-taking or caring for infants or newly born babies for 28 days following their birth. This field is new when compared to that of adult nursing or other areas of nursing. This field has been around for fifty years and it is still being practiced throughout. Neonatal nursing is very important as the neonatal nurses are the ones who take care of newborn infants for twenty eight days after their birth.
There are three different working levels in neonatal nursing. Level 1 is related to caring for newly born infants while level 2 is related to caring and nursing of ill, unhealthy newly born babies. The level 3 category of neonatal nursing is related to incurable infants who need excessive medical supervision or high technology standards to diagnose or cure. It depends on the nurses as to which level to choose. They can decide between working with healthy or unhealthy infants or premature babies. No matter what they choose, the neonatal nurses are mostly in the maternity ward of the hospital or the nursery or the concerned wards of the hospital. The level 1 category has started to disappear in the recent times as newly born babies have some or the other illness which are transferred from their mother or other random reasons. Level 2 category is in the rampant as there are many babies who are recorded to have illnesses and need some or the other treatment before they can leave the hospital. Specialized feedings, extra oxygen may be required for babies. Babies in level 3 have very complicated situations like surgery, requirement of ventilators etc for survival. Levels 2 and 3 have become popular in the recent times.
Neonatal nurses have many tough duties and some of them include making right decisions at the right time like assisting the babies who need medical attention by taking right choices, caring for the babies around the clock, assisting the physicians with medical procedures and treatments, taking individual attention of babies, constant supervision on the baby, feeding the baby and so on. The job is rewarding and very challenging, tough and it needs patience, care and love for the infants and the idea of helping with great responsibility as children cannot tell their problems to anybody and it needs great understanding to cure their problems. Neonatal nurses also suggest the parents how to take care of the sick children and how their health can be improved.
To take up the neonatal nursing course, one needs to be a registered nurse with a bachelor’s degree in nursing or a master’s degree in nursing. They need to have clinical experience for about three years in a hospital and neonatal nurses need certification from Neonatal Resuscitation Provider inorder to become a neonatal nurse or a neonatal practitioner. There is a growth in neonatal nursing requirements and the salaries are also high. A neonatal practitioner has an average wage of $ 80,000 along with other rewards and advantages.
