Neonatal Practitioners

Answer 1

Despite the best medical care, many women find themselves in labor before the baby is due to be born. A pregnancy is considered full term after thirty-seven weeks gestation. Often, babies born before the thirty seventh week of pregnancy have difficulty breathing, maintaining their body temperatures, and have a feeding intolerance. Neonatal nurse practitioner work involves caring for these tiny babies and providing a valuable link between the highly trained doctors that care for these premature infants and the new parents.

Neonatal practitioner work is part medical and part therapy, as the new parents often look to their baby’s daily caregiver for support and reassurance. Working in this field can be emotionally challenging, but the rewards of helping a premature infant reach the required goals to go home with his parents outweighs the negatives of the job. Premature and critically ill newborns have a much higher rate of survival as the advancement of technology to assist them through this difficult stage of development is continually improving.

Most neonatal practitioners work under the supervision of a doctor that specializes in neonatal care. These nurse practitioners monitor vital signs, alert doctors and respiratory teams to problems, administer medications, feed infants through feeding tubes or with bottles, change diapers and bathe the infants in their care. Because many of these infants have life threatening illnesses or problems related to prematurity, neonatal practitioner work requires good judgment and the ability to work well under extreme amounts of stress.

Neonatal practitioners must obtain a bachelor or master level degree in nursing and pass state certification exams. Many states also require continuing education requirements be met to remain licensed long term. The majority of neonatal practitioners work in a hospital setting, either in the maternity ward or at a specialized children’s hospital. Growth for this area of medicine is on the rise, due to the fact that more advanced technology allows women who could not maintain a pregnancy previously to successfully carry a baby until it is considered viable.

The average salary for a neonatal practitioner in the United States is between $80,000 and $100,000. The advancement opportunities for licensed neonatal practitioners are typically management departments within the hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU.