Being a nurse is one of the most rewarding jobs you can have, you wake up each day and know that you can make such a big impact in so many people’s lives. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurses get to make a difference in not only the little patient’s life, but also their family that must leave the hospital without their little one; which can be one of the most difficult times for parents. NICU nurses are vital in the health care world. The nurses work hard to ensure that the sick/premature newborns receive the care that they need when they are there for days, weeks, and even sometimes many months until they are well enough to go home. “According to the National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN), there are approximately 40,000 low birth weight infants born each year in the United States, but with advancements in medicine and the highly skilled nurses and physicians the survival rates have been on an upward trend, it is now ten times better than it was fifteen years ago” (“Neonatal Nurse Career Guide,” n.d.).
Being a NICU nurse comes with much responsibility, the nurse must provide hands-on …show more content…
One in eight babies are born premature which is the number one health care issue of the NICU (Knispel, 2014). Babies that are born before 35 weeks is considered premature. Surprisingly enough some NICU often sees babies that are delivered at 23 weeks that have a one third chance of survival but still have major complications to deal with. If the baby is delivered at 25-28 weeks they have a higher chance of survival and are more likely to grown up without major health issues. Preterm birth contributes to about a third of all infant’s deaths (Seidman, 2015). According to the American Academy of Pediatrics the survival rate is eighty percent for preemies born before 28 weeks and that rate drops about ten percent for each week the baby is born (“How Long Will My Premature Baby Stay in the
Being a NICU nurse comes with much responsibility, the nurse must provide hands-on …show more content…
One in eight babies are born premature which is the number one health care issue of the NICU (Knispel, 2014). Babies that are born before 35 weeks is considered premature. Surprisingly enough some NICU often sees babies that are delivered at 23 weeks that have a one third chance of survival but still have major complications to deal with. If the baby is delivered at 25-28 weeks they have a higher chance of survival and are more likely to grown up without major health issues. Preterm birth contributes to about a third of all infant’s deaths (Seidman, 2015). According to the American Academy of Pediatrics the survival rate is eighty percent for preemies born before 28 weeks and that rate drops about ten percent for each week the baby is born (“How Long Will My Premature Baby Stay in the