Answering the Question How Do I Become a Neonatal Nurse

RNs now have the choice of going after a neonatal nursing path, which is relatively new as compared to more common nursing career options; and neonatal nursing is a specialty with many different openings for trained professionals that want to work with new infants. Neonatal nurses handle premature and chronically ill babies, along with their mothers, who need support and coaching to care for their babies.

You'll probably be asking yourself specifically what a neonatal nurse does? A neonatal nurse is a person who works with infants younger than 28 days, providing intensive care for them. Neonatal nurses are employed in one of three types of nurseries:

• Level I nursery is commonly for healthy babies. Thanks to shorter hospital stays as well as the fact almost all mothers and their newborns now share a hospital room, Level I nurseries have essentially disappeared.
• A Level II nursery offers specialised care for premature babies and also those coping with an ailment. In instances like these, the baby requires special care and quite often specialized feedings; oxygen or intravenous fluids might be administered; a longer stay could possibly be required.
• For those infants who require care beyond that of a Level II, the Level III nursery is an intensive care unit. These babies might not be of sufficient size, premature, or suffering ailments that require advanced technological care. The infants who stay in these nurseries often require ventilators or incubators, or even surgical intervention. The level III nursery is frequently found in larger conventional hospitals or in a children's hospital.

The educational requirements for becoming a neonatal nurse require simply becoming a registered nurse, which usually takes between 2 to 4 years, based on whether a bachelor's degree or associate degree is chosen. After graduation from an RN program, there is a state licensing exam.

Every institution hiring for the neonatal specialty has their very own requirements. Some hospitals call for a year of medical surgical or adult health nursing experience. Other medical centers will hire RNs with no prior experience.

Once you are finished with nursing school, you will need to complete continuing education hours, which can be required by the state and sometimes by the group issuing your certification. The state board of nursing establishes exactly how many hours of continuing education are required to renew an RN license, which is usually every two or three years.

What starting salary can a new neonatal nurse expect to make?

• If you live and work in the Midwestern portion of the country, you can expect to start at $38,000 to $44,000.
• If you live and work on either coast, you can expect to start at $40,000.
• If you are working in the South, then you can look for $30,000.
• If you have no experience, the most you could expect to ever start at would be $48,000.

For anyone who is considering being a neonatal nurse, you can anticipate a rewarding professional career. Assisting babies is the dream of a lot of nurses; but understand that whenever a newborn is suffering, it can be sad, but when you nurse them to be healthy enough to go home that prevails over everything else.