what are some of the ups and downs of being a Neonatal Nurse?
I am a sophomore who is interested in learning about all the different jobs in the medical field. Is being a Neonatal Nurse fun or difficult? What is a typical day like? How many years of schooling is needed? #medicine #nurse #healthcare #babies
2 answers
Teresa’s Answer
Being a neonatal nurse is very rewarding and mostly fun. There are some hard times when a baby is not doing well, but they are outnumbered by the days when we see babies who were very sick, improving! We become very close to parents as we offer support to families who are in a most difficult time- worried about their little one. Every year we have a reunion to see our graduates and how they have grown-- it is such a joy to see how these tiny fighters have grown into toddlers and school-agers! We don't recognize them any more, but we do recognize their parents!
Any RN can become a neonatal nurse. Most units have a specialized course to train the specialty education that we want the nurses to know. Our NICU course is about 3 weeks long of study. I would recommend that you get your bachelor's degree in nursing and then come see me! I have been a neonatal nurse for 27 years and still LOVE it!
Teresa
CareerVillage’s Answer
It looks like this question overlaps with your other question, so check out the answer:
http://careervillage.org/questions/1067/is-being-a-level-3-neonatal-nurse-emotionally-draining
For more neo-natal nursing experiences, take a look at this thread:
http://allnurses.com/nicu-nursing-neonatal/poll-what-do-101076.html