Pennsylvania Nursing Schools

Neonatal nurse practitioners work with neonatologists in non acute and acute settings. They supervise and assist the treatment and delivery of infants. Whenever an infant is born with a health complication because of premature birth, drug addiction, genetic disorders, HIV infection, etc. a neonatal nurse practitioner is responsible for managing the health issues that may arise due to these conditions. Registered nurses can also be neonatal practitioners; however, they only look after healthy infants. On the other hand, neonatal nurse practitioners generally look after infants who are born with complex health issues and are in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Some of their responsibilities include conducting neonatal resuscitation, drawing blood, assessing vital signs, describing treatment plans and prescribing medications, monitoring specialized equipment in caring for infants, starting and maintaining IV lines, performing laboratory and diagnostic tests, guiding new parents to properly care for their new born babies, etc.

(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a “year-round, full-time” hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.