Nurses have long been known to be the angels of mercy. While it is not easy to study and practice nursing, some nursing sub-specialties are even harder to learn and practice. Nurses who work in intensive care units (ICUs), emergency rooms (ERs) and operation rooms (ORs) are amongst the most skilled nurses in the field. The field of cna training is different.

Nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are amongst the highly trained nurses you could ever find. To become a skillful NICU nurse, you would probably need years and years of education and training. The hardness of the sub specialty is marked by the size of the patient. Nursing in the NICU is all about dealing with tiny little living things. NICU patients could weigh as low as 900 grams, sometimes even less. Most neonates have a bleeding diathesis which renders them liable to easily bleed after minor trauma; hence, neonates should be handled and carried in a special way. NICU nurses study the neurological neonatal reflexes which enables them to handle those small creatures in a professional way.

While all intensive care nurses posses heightened clinical sense, NICU nurses are required to be more observant to clinical signs than their other peers. A neonate is specifically liable to hypoxia which is a decrease in the level of oxygen in the blood. Hypoxia leads to skin color changes that can be easily identified by a skillful NICU nurse. Different breathing patterns, deterioration of the levels of consciousness and signs of dehydration could be all observed by most NICU nurses. Brilliant NICU nurses are the eyes of a neonatologist and as said “Four eyes can see better than two”.

Gaining intravenous access in neonates can sometimes be no walk in the park. Although insertion of intravenous catheters is usually the doctor’s job, a nurse who knows how to do it is always of great help. Nurses have to train firstly on adult patients before shifting on to children and neonates. The subcutaneous veins of the newly born are very thin walled and if significant negative pressure is applied to them, they collapse and cannot be easily visible. Mastering subcutaneous intravenous catheterization in neonates might require years and years of efficient practice.

Feeding neonates is another hard task assigned to NICU nurses. The sick neonate should be held in a proper position while nursed, otherwise serious health complications might occur. Almost all neonates have immature muscles in their throats and also their cough reflexes are very weak; therefore, nursing in an inappropriate position can lead to aspiration which can eventually cause a fatal pneumonia. NICU nurses are well trained to hold neonates in a semi-sitting position while fed to minimize the occurrence of regurgitation and aspiration.

Top level NICU nurses could also be trained to perform more delicate maneuvers. Some NICU nurses can insert naso-gastric tubes, introduce rectal tubes and even insert an endo-tracheal tube in rare instances.

NICU nursing is one of the most sophisticated careers available for nurses. The profession requires completion of studies and training programs that can somehow take a lot of time and effort, but are yet rewarding to those nurses.

About the author of this article:

Marco writes and blogs about nursing at his nursing blog for more nursing information and nursing tips and nursing news visit his personal blog.

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