If you are a registered nurse with some experience, you may be wonderinghow to become a neonatal nurse. You mayeven be a relatively new nurse who simply already knows her area of focus willbe neonatal. Either way, you want to know the steps you need to take the pathyou need to follow in order to reach your goals.
Neonatal Nursing Education Requirements
The nurse who works in a neonatal unit is a master nurse. She cares fornewborns, 28 days old and younger. That means she not only is a registerednurse with a bachelor’s in nursing, but that she also holds a master’s degreein an advanced practice program specializing in this area. Lastly, she is anurse with certification in this specialty field.
With any advanced practice degree, there are some foundational courses youwill be expected to take, including such courses as statistics, foundations foradvanced practice, health care policy and advocacy, genetics, etc. But for thisspecialty area, you should anticipate coursework specific to the field.
Such coursework includes:
neonatal assessment neonatal pharmacology advanced theory and clinical practicefetal and neonatal risk in pregnancy neonatal/infant neurobehavioraldevelopment genetics and its impact on neonatal illness neonatal physiologyThere will also be practicum and residency hours required by your program aswell. Each state differs in its requirements for certification and licensure.So the requirements of the masters program in this specialty will vary somewhatfrom state to state.
Certification Requirements–Neonatal Nurse TestingProcedures
There are several certification entities.
If you opt for certification from the American Association of Critical CareNurses (AACN), you will pursue the CCRN (Certification for Adult, Pediatric,and Neonatal Critical Care Nurses). This three-hour exam has 150 questions.Only 125 actually count toward your score. The exam is over adult, neonatal andpediatric patient populations. The bulk of the exam is on clinical judgment andage-specific questions. The remainder is on professional caring and ethics.
Some institutions would like their neonatal nurses to have taken theNeonatal Resuscitation Program, which is a course designed by the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics. It is recommended that you take this course and get thiscertification. But this would be in addition to your main licensing andcertification.
Another certification you will want to pursue is the Neonatal Intensive CareNursing. This is offered by the National Certification Corporation. This is athree hour test. This is a 175 question test, with only 150 of them countingtoward your score. Roughly half of the questions will be over generalassessment and management. The other half will cover assessment and managementof pathophysiologic states. A small portion of the test is over Assess andManage Psychosocial/ Behavioral Adjustments and Professional Issues. Thiscertification authority also offers the Maternal Newborn Nursing and the LowRisk Neonatal Nursing exams.
There are study guides available for these tests. It is highly recommendedthat you prepare ahead of time because these tests are expensive.
Neonatal Nurse Job Outlook
Because of the increase in fertility treatments and premature births,neonatal nurses are enjoying terrific job outlook. If this is a specialty thatinterests you, chances are good you can find a job once you finish school.However, the coursework is very rigorous. The payoff, at the end, is that youcan find a good paying job. You will probably start at around ,000, dependingupon where in the country you work, as well as which level of nursery.
Level I nurseries are where healthy newborns are cared for. Level IInurseries care for premature babies who either need special care or more timebefore discharge. Level III nurseries are referred to as the NICU and this iswhere babies receive the highest level of care.
In conclusion, knowing how to become a neonatal nurse is the first step inrealizing your dream of working with newborns. This is a very rewarding job,but the preparation and certification process are very rigorous.