NICU and Neonatal Nursing Career Information
A NICU nurse cares for newborn babies who are premature or sick enough that they need to stay in a hospital. NICU is the abbreviation for "neonatal intensive care unit." This nursing specialty also provides support to the families of these babies. As with most healthcare careers, a NICU nurse has an extremely important role to fulfill.
The vast majority of neonatal nurses work in hospitals. Their patients might require care such as special feedings, supplemental oxygen, ventilators, surgery, or time to mature before going home, among other things. It is also part of the nurse's job to help educate and comfort family members. The NICU can be a difficult place for many people to work due to the fragile nature of premature and sick newborns. Even with today's medical technology, it is inevitable that some lives will be lost. A NICU nurse should be able to provide loving care for patients and families but not dwell excessively on the sad parts of this career. A healthy newborn nursery may offer a better career choice for nurses who would find this too stressful, although depressing situations arise in nearly any healthcare career.
In order to become a NICU nurse, one must be accepted into a college program, get through an intense course load, and pass a licensing exam. It takes approximately one to two years to become an LPN (licensed practical nurse). RN (registered nurse) college programs usually take two years to obtain an associate's degree or four years for a bachelor's degree. RN's are rewarded for the additional education with higher wages and more career opportunities. Some hospitals will hire new college graduates as neonatal nurses, while others require at least a year of experience in med-surg nursing before specializing. With a few years of NICU experience, one can obtain a master's degree to become a neonatal nurse practitioner.
The salary for a NICU nurse varies according an area's cost of living and whether nurses are plentiful there. A typical beginning salary for this career in California is over $45,000, whereas new RN grads tend to earn around $30,000 in Florida. The Midwestern states fall somewhere in between. There is a growing shortage of nurses in most areas of the United States and many other countries around the world, due to factors which include an aging population and an insufficient number of college programs. Because of this, salaries for nurses-including those in the NICU or neonatal specialty-are expected to increase more quickly than the wages for most careers.
A career as a neonatal or NICU nurse can be a difficult one, but it's also extremely rewarding. It's a great feeling to nurture a premature baby from birth and eventually see her go home healthy with overjoyed parents.For thesis writing service
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