Description
Provide specialized nursing care for critically ill and premature newborns in neonatal intensive care units, ensuring physiologic stability, developmental support, and family-centered care in collaboration with the NICU team.
- • Identify neonates' gestational age-specific needs and modify care plans accordingly.
- • Provide post-mortem and bereavement care for infants and families.
- • Evaluate neonatal vital signs, perfusion, blood gases, glucose, and labs to determine urgent interventions.
- • Perform approved neonatal procedures based on clinical status, including thermoregulation support, gavage feeding, suctioning, and line care.
- • Administer blood products to neonates and monitor for transfusion reactions.
- • Administer weight-based medications via IV, UVC, PICC, oral, or gastric tubes with independent double-checks.
- • Advocate for infants and families, support breastfeeding goals, and provide family-centered emotional support.
- • Set up and monitor incubators or radiant warmers, cardiorespiratory monitors, ventilators, CPAP/HFNC, phototherapy, and invasive lines.
- • Monitor strict intake and output, daily weights, urine and stool patterns, and electrolytes to detect imbalances.
- • Monitor for apnea, bradycardia, desaturation, sepsis, NEC, IVH, or shock and initiate interventions.
- • Assess neonatal pain and sedation needs using validated scales and implement comfort and developmental care.
- • Assess family psychosocial needs, bonding, and readiness for caregiving; facilitate kangaroo care.
- • Collaborate with neonatologists, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, dietitians, lactation consultants, and allied staff to develop and revise care plans.
- • Collect neonatal specimens for labs, cultures, bilirubin levels, blood gases, and point-of-care testing.
- • Trend and analyze cardiorespiratory, neurologic, bilirubin, and laboratory data to guide care.
- • Conduct neonatal respiratory assessments and manage oxygen and ventilation per protocols, including CPAP and HFNC titration.
- • Document neonatal histories, maternal and gestational details, and assessment findings.
- • Document care plans, interventions, feeding tolerance, outcomes, and plan revisions.
- • Identify infants at nutritional risk and coordinate TPN, fortification, and individualized enteral feeding plans.
- • Prioritize care for critically ill and premature infants based on acuity and developmental needs.
- • Assist with neonatal procedures such as delivery room stabilization, NRP resuscitation, intubation, surfactant administration, UVC/UAC placement, chest tube insertion, or lumbar puncture.
- • Ensure neonatal equipment is cleaned, stored, and ready for use, following infection control standards.
- • Identify and report malfunctioning equipment or alarm issues promptly.
- • Assess family coping and resource needs; provide education and refer to social work or chaplaincy as needed.
- • Coordinate family care conferences and discharge planning, including screenings, immunizations, and follow-up appointments.
- • Maintain NRP certification and participate in ongoing neonatal continuing education.
- • Contribute to development and evaluation of NICU nursing protocols, including infection prevention and CLABSI/VAP bundles.
- • Provide education to parents on infant care, breastfeeding and pumping, equipment use, and safe sleep.
- • Precept and support NICU nursing staff and assist with unit workflow.
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
