Neonatal Nursing Career

At the age of six, I knew that I wanted to find a career where I would be working with kids for the rest of my life. This was a time when my oldest niece was born and was diagnosed with a mild case of down syndrome. When she was an infant, my mother and I would babysit her and I would care for her as if I was a mother figure in her life. I consistently fed her bottles, changed her diapers, rocked her to sleep, and taught her how to read as she grew older. Whatever she needed, I would provide as much as I could. When I transitioned into high school, I found out exactly which career path I wanted to take. I want to go into neonatal nursing because I am very fond of infants. I feel as though I have experience with children who are born with defects …show more content…
After I graduate, it is required of me to become a registered nurse by going to nursing school for a number of years. As a neonatal nurse, I must become certified in Neonatal Resuscitation and Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing due to the fact that I will be handling ill infants. Many hospitals in different locations require nurses to complete a small number of years of clinical experience in a hospital setting before practicing as a neonatal nurse. There are 3 different levels of neonatal nursing. Level 1 neonatal nurses take care of healthy infants after they are born. However, there isn't a major demand for these types of nurses because many infants are more likely to stay in the same room with their mother. A level 2 neonatal nurse, which is what I plan on becoming, takes care of premature infants or infants born with illnesses. Level 2 nurses are much more of a necessity than any of the other levels because sick infants need constant attention. A level 2 neonatal nurse may seem as though they have a lot of responsibility on their hands being that they're working with ill infants, but they don't compare to Level 3 neonatal nurse practitioners. Level 3 neonatal nurses work in the NICU with extremely ill infants. They work countless hours checking in on the ill infants and making sure they are responding well to treatments. Level 3 neonatal …show more content…
One of the challenges I may run into while obtaining my degree in Nursing is trying to maintain a 3.8 in order to get into nursing school. However, I've come up with many different strategies to help me motivate myself when I'm feeling stressed about this. I plan to stay on top of my work and my social life has to come last in order for my grades in order to achieve a 3.8 GPA. Another obstacle of mine is having difficulties with the many science classes I will have to take. To overcome this obstacle, I plan to attend every SI session there is for my Biology and Chemistry classes and ask my professor for extra help during their office