Duties and Responsibilities of Neonatal Nurse in Hospital Care
Who is Newborn Baby or Neonate?
A newborn infant, or neonate, is a child under 28 days of age. During these first 28 days of life, the child is at highest risk of dying. It is thus crucial that appropriate feeding and care are provided during this period, both to improve the child’s chances of survival and to lay the foundations for a healthy life.
A newborn infant, or neonate, is a child under 28 days of age. During these first 28 days of life, the child is at highest risk of dying. Newborn define as a product of conception with signs of life, between birth and 28 days of age.
Roles and Responsibilities of Neonatal Nurse in Hospital Care:
All the duties and responsibilities of a neonatal nurse in hospital care have presented in the below:
1. Patient related care:
- Hand-washing,
- Keeping environment of the nursery clean,
- Monitoring records and sheets,
- Communicating with parents,
- Care and knowledge of neonatal equipment.
2. Routine Patient care:
- Feeding,
- Changing napkins and keeping baby clean,
- Suctioning baby as and when required,
- Providing oxygen as and when required and switching it off when not required,
- Monitoring vital signs like temperature, heart rate, respiration rate etc.
3. Care of ventilated baby:
- Suctioning,
- ET suctioning,
- Chest Physiotherapy,
- Trouble shooting and reacting to ventilator alarms,
- Recognizing tube blocks / tube displacement,
- Reacting to saturation drop,
- Ability to react to monitor alarm and malfunction of equipment.
You can read: Duties and Responsibilities of Midwife for High Risk Newborn
4. Seriously ill neonates:
- Despite the limitation in term of number of nurses if a neonate is seriously ill the nurse has to organize herself to be available to take care of this baby and should inform the family periodically regarding the baby’s condition.
5. Specialized patient care:
- Starting IV line,
- Monitoring,
- Blood sampling,
- Connecting IV lines,
- Helping with patient procedures,
- Administering medications,
- Recognizing problem and reporting physical condition of the baby,
- Reacting to emergencies, e.g. resuscitation of an apneic baby, administering 10 percent dextrose to a convulsing baby who has hypoglycemia etc.
6. Administrative work:
- Supervising nurse’s work,
- Ensuring smooth functioning of the unit,
- Ensuring availability of stocks and linen, etc.,
- Ensuring proper functioning of equipment.
7. Discharge planning:
- Most neonatologists prefer to take the nurses opinion prior to discharging of a high- risk neonate as she knows the baby and the mother best. Prior to discharge should ensure that the baby is breastfeeding well and the mother is capable of taking care of the baby at home.
Equipment Needed for Newborn Care at Birth:
It includes the following:
- Prepare equipment and supplies for care at birth,
- Two (2) or more clean baby sheets or towels,
- Scissor,
- Gloves,
- Stethoscope,
- Sterile ties,
- Bag and mask various sizes,
- Suction catheter,
- Baby clothes and cap.
More questions related to this article:
- What is newborn baby?
- Define newborn.
- Who is a neonate?
- Write down the different roles of a neonatal nurse in terms of hospital care.
- What kinds of equipment need for newborn care at birth?
- List some equipment need for newborn care at birth.
- Write down the job descriptions of a neonatal nurse in terms of hospital care.
- Write a short note on a neonatal nurse job description.
