Neonatal Nursing Essay

“Neonatal nurses know the best things come in the smallest packages.” Neonatal nursing, a subspecialty of nursing, works with newborn infants who have differing levels of needs. The specialized field of neonatal nursing developed around the 1960s. (Ferguson, 69) Neonatal nurses make up the backbone of the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, for the smallest patients. Neonatal nurses will give babies the most tender love and care they will ever receive in a healthcare environment. Neonatal nurses give the most crucial and direct care infants receive while in the NICU; without these nurses, babies would not receive all of the care they need in order to overcome their problem.
The National Association of Neonatal Nursing, also known as NANN,
They can do anything from resuscitating sick infants and administering medication, to helping a mom learn to breastfeed. (Brooks, A, 1) The nurse is responsible for checking fluid intake every hour, measuring the urine output, and weighing the baby every day. (Dickason, 808) In the case that the baby has an extremely low birth weight, they may require weighing twice a day. (Dickason, 808) If the baby’s temperature becomes unstable, the NICU nurse will adjust the environment of the baby, usually an incubator (Dickason, 809). Neonatal nurses will take care of one to four babies at a time, each of which may have a varying level of difficulty to care for. (Neonatal, 1) Even though the infants may have a differing level of needs, a neonatal nurse’s day is likely a bit more predictable than an RN’s. Infants will have a smaller range of needs, unlike an emergency room nurse’s patients. (Brooks, A,
Although most neonatal nurses work in a hospital taking care of critical newborns, some nurses in this field care for healthy babies. (Brooks, A, 1) They could work in a clinic or home health care cente. (Brooks, A, 1) In hospitals, they have made levels for the varying severity of the infants. A level I nursery is for babies who have no complications and can stay in the nursery or the mother’s room. (Ferguson, 71) It is not quite as common to have a designated level I nursery. Babies who have been born prematurely, have a birth defect, illness, or a disease go to the level II nursery. (Ferguson, 71) These babies will require more training to care for. Babies who cannot be treated in a level I or II nursery must go to a level III nursery in which they will go to a neonatal intensive care unit. (Ferguson, 71) They require high-tech care such as ventilators, incubators, or surgery that may only be available at larger hospitals, or even specialized children’s hospitals (Ferguson, 71). The NICU can be a noisy, bright, and chaotic environment that may cause stress on not only the babies, but the staff and parents, also. (Dickason, 783) According to NANN, “Neonatal nurses should expect to work with infants’ families just as much as the infants themselves.” (Brooks, A,