What Is the Training of a NICU Nurse?
All nurses are recognized for the great work they do with patients every day, but none is more appreciated than the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse. NICU nurses work with the tiniest and most medically-impaired infants and have knowledge of the equipment and techniques needed to assist these special patients to get well and grow strong. Job prospects for NICU nurses remain strong for the future. According to Salary.com, NICU nurses median earnings are $80,000.
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Prerequisites for Neonatal Training
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Those preparing for a career as a NICU nurse will require a bachelor's degree in nursing to begin the specialized training that NICU nurses need for their tiny patients. State licensure as a nurse is also needed. In addition, two to three years of clinical work is required. NICU nurses require a high degree of diligence and the ability to work in teams to give the intensive care that at-risk infants need. NICU nurses also need the people skills and sensitivity needed to educate and encourage the parents of the infants.
Components of Neonatal Training
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Coursework to become a neonatal nurse includes such subjects as advanced physiology, biostatistics, genetics, newborn health assessment, pharmacotherapeutics for newborns, neonatal pathophysiology, and clinical practicum. Independent studies are often required, as well. Licensed nurses undergoing training as a specialist in neonatal nursing receive a master's degree. They will also have to take the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Board Exam. When the master's degree is achieved and the nurses has passed the board exam, they begin to work their way up the various levels of neonatal care within the hospital setting. You must be certified in Neonatal Resuscitation or Neonatal Intensive Care.
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Level I Neonatal Nursing
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The first level of neonatal nursing works with healthy infants to gain understanding and experience of the unique issues involved in working with these tiny patients. This level of nursing is decreasing because more mothers have their infants in their hospital rooms with them.
Level II Neonatal
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In Level II, neonatal nurses begin their practical experience with infants that have some special needs, working with medications and techniques that are generally used to assist distressed infants to gain strength so they can go home with their parents.
Level III NICU Nursing
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Level III NICU nursing sees the sickest and most premature infants that must be monitored around the clock. Incubators and ventilators are some of the equipment that NICU nurses must be familiar with, and parents must be trained in the care of these at-risk infants.
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References
- Photo Credit baby image by Yvonne Bogdanski from Fotolia.com
