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Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Programs

Kundan Pandey
The information given here will show you the path for becoming a professional neonatal nurse. Get to know more about it by reading further...
Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (NNPs) look after infants and newborns who require special attention due to medical problems at birth like low weight, respiratory problems, congenital heart defects, and various other medical disorders.

An Overview

Neonatal nurse practitioner programs are just one of the numerous nurse practitioner school degrees, that are available these days. Listed here are all popular nursing degree programs.
Take a look at them and be aware of several career opportunities in nursing careers.
  • Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
  • Adult Nurse Practitioner (ANP)
  • Women's Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP)
  • Gerontological Nurse Practitioner (GNP)
  • Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP)
  • Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (ACPNP)
  • Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP)
  • Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)

Educational Criteria

For nurses to join neonatal programs, there are several educational qualifications that they must have. For instance, Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), and a registered nursing (RN) license from the respective state board of nursing is important.
Further, a RN is expected to have a year's work experience in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), before being admitted to any one of the practitioner programs.

Degrees Awarded

These programs include the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree, along with a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) or Advanced Neonatal Nursing degree. The courses that are included in the practitioner programs are as follows:
  • Developmental Physiology
  • Clinical Perinatology
  • Advanced Neonatal Assessment

Top Schools

There is a tremendous demand of neonatal nurses for taking care of babies who require special attention. Generally, these programs are more beneficial for working registered nurses (RNs), who've got considerable work experience as they can easily grasp the subject matter of these practitioner programs. 
These RNs can also directly go for neonatal nurse practitioner master's degree. Some of the most popular, established and reputed universities/nursing schools that offer nurse practitioner program/MSN degrees online for you have been mentioned here. 
Some of these Universities even allow you to enroll for free, and also give financial aid information on their official website. Hence, don't miss to visit the websites of these universities and get updated information. 
The names of the universities are as follows:
  • University of Phoenix
  • Walden University
  • Herzing University
  • South University
  • Grand Canyon University
Check out on their websites if they offer any neonatal nurse practitioner programs and choose likewise.

Credible Resources

There are several organizations that have been established for monitoring, guiding and setting high standards of professional excellence in the nursing field. Moreover, some of these organizations are recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education, and act as a national accreditation agency.
You'll find tons of resources on the official websites of these organizations. Ensure that you carefully jot down all relevant information that you require.
This will help you select suitable practitioner/neonatal clinical nurse specialist programs. Reputed bodies of nursing are:
  • Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)
  • The American Medical Association (AMA)
  • National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC)
  • American Nurse's Association (ANA)
  • National Student Nurses' Association (NSNA)
These are some of the leading organizations that you can bank upon for authentic information. Your search for online programs will end on these websites, as they provide information on good and recognized online practitioner programs for neonatal nurses.
These programs train nurses to deal with challenging issue of maintaining the health of an infant. Recent years have seen great career development in this field. The salary range has increased with increasing pressure and responsibilities in this job. Certainly, being a neonatal nurse is one of the most challenging position amongst several nursing careers.