Hi, my name’s Steph and I’m an advanced neonatal nurse.
Steph Advanced Neonatal Nurse.docx
Being an advanced neonatal nurse practitioner is the future in neonatal care.
It is challenging, cutting-edge and rewarding.
It allows you to make decisions and practice with autonomy, teach others and has great job satisfaction.
What made you decide on the role?
I started as a newly qualified Childrens nurse in the neonatal unit, where I met my first advanced neonatal nurse practitioner. Over the next 2 years, as my experience and understanding and looking after premature and sick babies developed, I really started to understand how advanced neonatal nurse practitioners worked.
I saw first-hand how they were the bridge between nurses and doctors and how well they worked in the team to provide the very best care to these vulnerable babies.
I was passionate about learning because I wanted to make that difference. I wanted to know how things worked – not just what medicine did what, but how they worked inside the body and what we needed to do to make babies better.
What qualifications did you need?
Firstly, I needed to complete specially designed courses in neonatal high dependency care and intensive care – that made me qualified in the speciality of neonates.
I then completed a Masters in Southampton University. This was a mixture of essays and portfolios, written exams as well as learning lots of special skills whilst working in the intensive care ward.
Why do you enjoy your role?
My role allows me to combine a mixture of my nursing skills and the medical skills, to give tiny or very sick babies the very best chance.
It’s really rewarding to teach junior doctors the skills and knowledge to care for these infants and see them progress so well.
Babies are a family’s most precious gift and it is an absolute privilege to acre for these babies and to have families place their trust in you. There is no better feeling than watching a baby that was born so very ill or extremely premature go home with their family.
What key skills are needed to do your role well?
- Good communication skills – you have to work with lots of different teams from lots of different specialities.
- Good leadership skills – you have to be able to lead you team well in an emergency or difficult situation
- Compassion and empathy – It is super important to acknowledge the difficult journey the families are experiencing and to do your best to help them where possible
- Good technical skills – Being able to complete medical procedures effectively
- Good decision making skills – you have to make decisions about a babys care every day.