As a neonatal intensive care nurse, you are in charge of an extremely fragile population of the smallest patients in the hospital. Working in this unit requires a certain amount of determination and perseverance as these patients are critically sick, especially if they were born preterm. In addition to your physical and mental determination to provide compassionate care to these patients, you also need a high knowledge level of complete neonatal care to make the smartest decisions for your patients in the heat of the moment.
Life Saving Training for NICU Patients
Because many patients in the NICU are born premature, their health is very fragile, they often have difficulty breathing well and they may be at high risk for infection. All of these factors combine into a highly dangerous situation that could endanger the baby’s life. To work here with confidence, you not only want to keep up on continuing education modules that will help you learn about the latest treatments and cutting-edge technology for newborn care, but also you will want to ensure that you have the necessary knowledge and skills to save a precious infant’s life during a cardiovascular emergency.
Generally, life-saving skills for health care workers begin with a Basic Life Support Certification and can be further supplemented with an Advanced Cardiac Life Support Certification. However, neither of these classes deal intensely with caring for an infant although BLS does include some emergency care techniques for children. In addition, a Pediatric Advanced Life Support certification class will only teach you about how to respond to health emergencies for older babies, toddlers and children.
Best Certification for High-Acuity NICU Nurse
The best certification option for a high-acuity NICU nurse is an NRP class, which stands for the Neonatal Resuscitation Program. This program will give you the newest techniques and rules for caring for newborns during major health emergencies. It will ensure that you know correct laboratory values, cardiopulmonary support measures, medication amounts based on patient weight and other skills for keeping your youngest patients healthy. By taking this initial course and recertifying regularly, you will ensure your NRP certification, knowledge and skills stay up-to-date.
The neonatal intensive care field is quickly changing as more research is done and care providers continue to discover the best methods of caring for these patients. Because this is a newer health care field, not as much research has been done in it, but you can rely on your NRP certification as being your best possible resource.
In the NICU, you need to know what not to do just as much as you need to know what to do in every situation. This will give you confidence and will help you lead other members of your team through the most difficult health crises.
Rather than relying on hearsay or speculation regarding best practices, consider taking a Neonatal Resuscitation Program class, which will not only give you your certification, but also will give you some necessary continuing education hours that will allow you to more easily renew your health care practitioner license in the future.
When you choose an NRP certification course through Project Heartbeat, you can rest assured that you are choosing a trusted educational leader. Our in-person courses give you the chance to practice hands-on skills, ask questions of instructors and interact with your peers.
