The Role of Neonatal Nurses and Their Responsibilities

The department of nursing care that takes care of infants up to 28 days after their birth. Neonatal nurses can only be seen in the nurseries and they provide various levels of healthcare to various types of infants from healthy newborns to premature babies. Babies with birth defect or illness are also taken care of by the neonatal nurses. Neonatal nurses are registered nurses who are formally trained and hold a master’s or a doctorate degree from a recognized school of nursing. For people who want to know more about neonatal nursing, here is a list of the various roles and responsibilities of the nurses.

1. General Care

While general care for the babies is provided in the level 1 nursery, a neonatal nurse should be well trained to handle infants. Babies need regular changing of diapers, feeding and cuddle and nurses might need to keep a check on the babies round the clock. A neonatal nurse is also required to teach the new parents to how to take care of the baby and the basic care that should be provided to an infant.

2. Basic Skill Requirement

While most nursing schools and training institutions provide the required training for one to become a nursing professional, there are several prerequisites that a neonatal nurse might need to posses before opting for the course. A neonatal nurse should be able to perform the basic mathematical calculations and should be well versed with using the various clinical equipments such as incubators, intravenous lines and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. An infant requires just a small amount of the dose given to an adult so the nurse should be extremely careful.

3. Nursery Care

There are in total 4 levels of nurseries that the nurses are in charge of. The level 1 is for the newborn babies. These are now pretty uncommon as most healthy babies are allowed to share a room with the mothers. For Level 2, 3 and 4, the babies are usually premature, have birth defects or illnesses or are in need of extensive care. The nurses should be well versed with basic tasks like feeding and changing diapers to more extensive care skills like administration of oxygen, intravenous fluids and specialized feeding. Nurses working in level 3 nurseries might have to operate complex clinical machinery like ventilators and assist in various surgeries.

4. Advanced Care Services

Neonatal nurses can also be advances nursing practitioners who also specialize in the neonatal nursing. If you’re a highly educated neonatal nurse who holds a doctorate degree can also be required to perform various duties of a physician. Diagnosis, prescription of medicines, ordering treatments, assistance with machinery such as ventilators or heart-lung bypass machines, are all the various tasks that the more competent nurses are required to perform.

5. Emotional Support

With babies, a lot of emotional bonds are present and it is the nurse’s job to provide proper care to an infant so the parents are rest assured. When it comes to caring for babies with birth defects or ailments, the parents also need to be emotionally assured that their child is being given healthcare with utmost care and compassion as a mother would.

6. Other Duties

Neonatal nursing is way different that nursing adults and the nurses are required to be extra competent and careful when caring for the infants. Infants’ bodies are quite fragile as compared to adults and they might react differently to a particular medicine. Providing care and support to the infant as well as the family is one of the major roles of a neonatal nurse. Utmost vigilance is required as babies react to even the mildest changes in oxygen, temperatures etc.

Neonatal nursing unlike regular streams of nursing is one of the most challenging yet rewarding careers. The above roles and responsibilities are not to be taken lightly as neonatal nurses need to be extra vigilant and competent. Caring for babies is way different than caring for adults. For more information on neonatal nursing or other streams of nursing you can also inquire online and check the various online cna programs.