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Neonatal Nurses are specialist nurses who care for premature babies and infants with medical conditions in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), as well as healthy newborns in the first month of their life. They administer medications, undertake specialist feedings, advise parents, and carry out a range of diagnostic and screening tests.
As a Neonatal Nurse you could be checking the incubator and other NICU specialist equipment, feeding a premature baby with a tube, advising a new mother on the health status of her newborn baby, helping a new mother with feeding and changing, inserting an IV line for fluid intake, informing the doctor of a change to a baby’s core vitals, or updating patient records.
Neonatal nursing is a very joyful and rewarding occupation, but it can also be very stressful. Apart from meticulous technical nursing skills, to succeed you’ll need a natural affinity for infants and newborn babies and the ability to make clear decisions in an emergency.
The average salary for registered nurses in Australia, (including Neonatal Nurses) is $1,937 per week ($100,724 per annum). Increase your earning capacity by undertaking post-graduate qualifications in midwifery, neonatal care, and critical care nursing.
There are 325,500 Registered Nurses (RNs) currently employed in Australia, some of these are Neonatal Nurses. They are employed by hospitals in the nursery wards and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
You can launch your career as a Neonatal Nurse with a Bachelor of Nursing, and then registering with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. Once you are a qualified Registered Nurse (RN) you will need post-graduate qualifications such as a Graduate Certificate in Neonatal Care or the Graduate Certificate in Neonatal Intensive Care. It is also helpful to obtain a Graduate Diploma in Intensive Care Nursing and Master of Advanced Clinical Nursing.
Source: Australian Government Labour Market Insights 2023
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Here are some potential career pathways within nursing. Click on an occupation to learn more about the role and the qualifications that can help you get started in this industry.
Nursing
First Aider
Salary not available
Nursing Assistant
$960 weekly pay
Patient Care Assistant
Acute Care Nurse
$1,540 weekly pay
Aged Care Nurse
$1,050 weekly pay
Anaesthetic Nurse
$1,250 weekly pay
Community Health Nurse
$1,937 weekly pay
Critical Care Nurse
$1,530 weekly pay
Emergency Nurse
Enrolled Nurse
$1,150 weekly pay
Mental Health Nurse
Midwife
$1,730 weekly pay
Nurse Midwife
Operating Theatre Technician
Palliative Care Nurse
Perioperative Nurse
$1,600 weekly pay
Psychiatric Nurse
$2,000 weekly pay
Recovery Nurse
Rehabilitation Nurse
Remote Area Nurse
Renal Care Nurse
Research Nurse
Surgical Nurse
Triage Nurse
$2,015 weekly pay
Cardiac Nurse
Clinical Facilitator
$2,086 weekly pay
Clinical Nurse Consultant
$1,950 weekly pay
Clinical Nurse Educator
$2,433 weekly pay
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Director Of Nursing
$2,500 weekly pay
Nurse Educator
$2,192 weekly pay
Nurse Manager
$2,357 weekly pay
Nurse Practitioner
$2,115 weekly pay
Nurse Unit Manager
Registered Nurse
Trauma Nurse
$2,750 weekly pay