Neonatal Nurses

Neonatal nurses have experience in providing specialty care for very ill newborns. Their skills must be well honed and they must be knowledgeable about the latest neonatal technologies in order to manage the minute-to-minute changes in their tiny patients’ lives. They assist new mothers with feeding and hygiene routines and with transferring critical care issues from hospital to the home environment.

Neonatal nurses should like working with mothers, newborns, and families. This is a very intense nursing field, especially when caring for high-risk infants, so the neonatal nurse should be compassionate, patient, and able to handle stress and make decisions. The nurse should also be able to communicate well with other medical staff and the patients' families. Families of an at-risk newborn are often frightened and very worried about their infant. Because of their fears, family members may be difficult to deal with, and the nurse must be able to communicate with the family and explain medical terminology and procedures to them so they understand what is being done for their baby and why.