What Does A Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Do

Last Updated on July 31, 2023 by Oluwajuwon Alvina

The article below describes top-notch information on neonatal nurse practitioner schools & neonatal nurse practitioner schooling.

In addition to that, you will also find posts on collegelearners on neonatal nurse practitioner demand & neonatal nurse practitioner certification. 

Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Certification

In the United States, a baby is born every eight seconds. These infants can be either preterm or full-term neonates. In a hospital setting, once there is a newborn in need of emergency care due to any mild or severe health condition, a neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP) tends to the newborn around the clock in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs)—centers within medical facilities that offer continuous support for infants in critical condition. NNPs receive top-tier wages for carrying out their important responsibilities. In fact, these healthcare professionals receive an average annual base salary of $107,550, as reported by the most recent AANP National NP Compensation Survey.

A neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP) is a highly skilled, highly educated advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) who is responsible for providing specialized care to newborn infants who are experiencing a broad range of acuity and states of health, including prematurity, low birth weight, infections, genetic disorders, congenital heart abnormalities, and respiratory problems.

Neonatal nurse practitioners should also be well versed in the diagnoses of other health conditions. NNPs care for neonates who require constant attention and frequently act as primary caregivers to premature or ill newborn infants. Neonatal nurse practitioners can often be found working in intensive care units, delivery rooms, emergency rooms, and specialty clinics. In spite of the fact that neonatal nurse practitioners work under the instruction of a neonatologist physician or neonatal fellow, NNPs assume absolute responsibility for their patients’ health, employing judgment when required to evaluate, consider, diagnose, and commence medical procedures.

Becoming a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner

Prospective neonatal nurse practitioners who wish to care for newborn infants need to have exceptional dexterity, vision, agility, and should be highly observant with excellent hearing to ensure the well-being of infants under their care. Additionally, individuals seeking to become an NNP should exhibit a kind of empathetic understanding for not only their patients but their parents and family members as well. Prospective NNPs should be intensely interested in newborn babies and should have a solid understanding of both the physiological and psychological needs of the infant. Lastly, individuals interested in becoming a neonatal nurse practitioner should without a doubt possess both the competence to work in a highly technical field and the ability to work efficiently within a multidisciplinary team of medical clinicians.

What Are the Educational Requirements for a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner?

Those interested in entering this distinguished and highly regarded medical career must first meet the entry-level educational requirements. Prospective NNPs must enroll in a four-year university to obtain their Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. After an individual has achieved their BSN, they can then sit for the NCLEX-RN (Nursing Council Licensure Examination). As soon as they have successfully passed the NCLEX-RN examination, the next step is to apply to the state’s licensing agency to become a fully licensed, traditional registered nurse (RN). The final educational hurdle that a person seeking to become an NNP is to either earn a post-grad Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree with a concentration in neonatology, or to enroll in and complete a two-year Advanced Practice Neonatal Nursing (APNN) program. Completing one of these two educational programs is a prerequisite for licensure as a nurse practitioner (NP) or clinical nurse specialist (CNS). Both of these routes are acceptable for national certification and advanced practice licensure or recognition through all state Boards of Nursing.

Advanced practice university nursing programs typically will have its core curriculum in disciplines including neonatal physiology, embryology, advanced neonatal assessment, pharmacotherapeutics, and neonatal pharmacology. Graduate-level university programs are designed and formulated to meet all requirements for national certification. All graduate-level degree programs will consist of both didactic studies as well as clinical preceptorships.

What Does A Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Do?

Neonatal NPs work with neonatologists in acute and nonacute settings, supervising and assisting with the treatment and delivery of infants. In the event that an infant is born with health complications due to genetic disorders, drug addiction, premature birth, HIV infection, or any other causes, NNPs are essential to addressing the health issues that arise from these conditions.

Registered nurses (RNs) may also be neonatal nurses, and they attend to births and care for newborn infants in most Level I nurseries. Neonatal nurse practitioners (NNPs), by contrast, generally care for newborn infants who may have complex health issues in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Neonatal NPs have more comprehensive training than neonatal nurses and may take on greater responsibilities in terms of diagnosis, treatment planning, and prescribing medications—the scope of which varies by an NNP’s state of residence (i.e., practice authority).

In addition, NNPs work tirelessly to help lower the percentage of morbidity and mortality rates of infants. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Levels of Neonatal Care, there are different scopes of responsibilities for neonatal nurses (RNs) and NNPs based on the condition of the newborn infant. There are four different levels of neonatal care:

• Level I – These are basic neonatal nurseries for relatively healthy infants that are a requirement of any healthcare facilities that provide inpatient maternity care. NNPs may perform resuscitation here if necessary, and provide postnatal care, including weighing, measuring, bathing, feeding, and evaluating the overall healthy newborn.
• Level II – These specialty care nurseries attend to infants who experience moderate health problems. The health conditions of these infants are expected to recover fairly quickly, and may also include infants who are healing from a Level III (subspecialty) NICU.
• Level III – This nursery is known as a subspecialty neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where NNPs care for newborn infants who are extremely premature (<32 weeks old), or who are in critical condition and may require surgery.
• Level IV – These nurseries are known as regional NICUs, and include care for newborn infants who are in extreme critical condition. These infants need 24-hour monitoring and may also need complex surgeries.

In general, NNPs carry out the following duties across various clinical settings:

• Conduct neonatal resuscitation
• Start and maintain IV lines
• Monitor specialized equipment in caring for infants (e.g., ventilators, incubators, etc.)
• Order or perform diagnostic and laboratory tests
• Draw blood
• Design treatment plans and prescribe medications (independently or in a collaborative agreement with a physician)
• Assess vital signs
• Manage ventilators
• Guide new parents to properly care for their newborn infant