Neonatal nurse practitioners provide continuity
Parents like Colleen and Kenny often talk about
the expert care and thoughtfulness provided by the NICU
nurses. The hospital's neonatal nurse
practitioners (NNPs) play a critical role in patient care.
NNPs are graduate-level nurses with a concentration in advanced neonatal
nursing. They work closely with physicians to manage their patients' medical
care and to devise treatment plans. They also provide consistency to families in
a setting where on-call doctors must rotate through the unit every few weeks.
“We take care of a lot of premature babies and manage the care for babies who
need surgery, so there are families whose children may be here for up to six
months,” says Diane Nyari, APN/CNNP, one of the unit's four nurse practitioners.
“We help lead them through the medical terminology to understand what is wrong
with their babies, and our presence relieves some of the parents' stress.”
The number of NICU beds has doubled in the last three years, making it
imperative to increase the numbers of NNPs, according to Chief Nurse Executive
Michelle Stephenson, RN, MSN, who holds the Fred Love Krehbiel Chair in Nursing
Excellence. Stephenson, who began her career as a NICU nurse, says the
recruitment of NNPs is a challenge, because there are a limited number of
programs nationwide to train these very specialized nurses.
“We're always looking for candidates who are superb neonatal nurse
practitioners to join our staff,” she says.
One solution, says Stephenson, has been to “grow our own.” In 2003 the
hospital began the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Scholarship Program, which
underwrites the cost for nurses to complete a two-year program at the Rush
University Medical Center College of Nursing.
Nyari says the role of an NNP in an intensive care setting can be stressful,
but she finds her job extremely rewarding.
“It's a great feeling to see these babies finally going home,” she says. “You
feel like you've really contributed something to these families. It's even
better when they visit and we're able to see how great they are doing.”
Children's Memorial Hospital seeks philanthropic funding to enhance its
programs and services. As a proud partner of the Children's Miracle Network
(CMN), all funds raised in the Chicago area through CMN also benefit Children's
Memorial. To find out how your support can help the hospital better serve
children and families, please contact the Children's Memorial Foundation at
773.880.4237 or Foundation@childrensmemorial.org.