The process of becoming a neonatal nurse involves several steps. Something as simple as applying a small bandage can be dangerous to neonatal patients. Treatments can be equally complicated due to the patient’s small size and fragility. Providing medications to newborns is complex, as each dose must be calculated based on the patient’s weight (which will constantly be undergoing significant change).

In addition to monitoring the patient, neonatal nurses will need to administer medication and provide treatments.

They may be responsible for ensuring life support equipment is functioning and will be required to continuously ensure that changes in the patient’s condition are promptly addressed. Neonatal nurses will monitor patients, often using multiple pieces of complex equipment. As neonatal nurses practice the science of their profession, they will many times serve as the eyes and ears of the doctor who is often not present with the patient. The science part comes from the highly technical nature of this specific subspecialty of nursing. Neonatal nurses may have to empower parents to care for a child who will be disabled and even help prepare parents for the grief of losing their child. Illness in a newborn is often unexpected and turns the celebration and joy of childbirth into a time of extreme stress and difficulty for the patient’s family.Ī good neonatal nurse will provide emotional support to the families of neonatal patients, encouraging them and helping them through the difficult adjustment of dealing with illness in their newborn.

The art of neonatal nursingįrom the art standpoint, neonatal nurses provide care, not just to newborn babies, but also to their families at a traumatic and difficult time. Neonatal nursing is no exception to this.

The profession of nursing in general is described as a combination of science and art. The highly specialized care that fragile newborns require demands focused, in-depth knowledge combined with the caring and nurturing attitude needed to support not just the newborn, but their family. While health problems are difficult with any patient, neonatal nurses face the difficulty of providing care to patients who are unable to communicate and have recently undergone a major physiological change. There are many potential health issues that newborns can encounter, including premature birth, infections, surgical problems, injuries, and birth defects. While the term neonate technically refers to the first four weeks of a baby’s life, neonatal nurses often provide care to sick newborns for several months. As professionals that care for the youngest and most vulnerable of us, neonatal nurses have one of the most demanding, yet rewarding jobs of any nurse. Neonatal nursing is a subspecialty of nursing that includes providing care to neonates, or newborn babies.

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