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NICU Nurses are some of the most important nurses in a hospital setting. They are in charge of saving the lives of babies in all different kinds of situations. They are Registered Nurses who care for and work with neonates that need special attention. In many cases, they are assigned to a specific number of babies to watch over. Many of times, these babies are premature and/or born addicted to a specific type of drug. The nurses must be quick on their foot, and must also be comfortable in making quick decisions and medical procedures that could potentially save a babies life. The NICU Nurses have to be responsible for and keep track of a neonates heart rate, respiration, and oxygen levels. They are in charge of all medical equipment assigned to their baby, including feeding tubes and sometimes the need to administer medication. It is a fulfilling and important job to keep the Mothers and doctors happy and keeping the baby healthy so that there is more potential for she or he to go home within six weeks.

When working as a neonatal nurse, there are three different levels of babies that need care. On Level I, nurses care for the healthy newborns that are usually located within the maternity ward. Levels II and III are considered to be the Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Level II nurses usually treat babies for jaundice. It is level III where one would usually find a baby that has been born addicted, especially to heroin. Level III NICU’s are for the most ill babies who need respirator care, incubators, and other needs for intensive care. Also, there are plenty of benefits working as a NICU Nurse. Obviously, there is a joy of watching small babies grow healthy and develop. Not only that, but, there is such an importance for these NICU Nurses, they are saving the life of a Mother’s “little miracle”.

Additionally, a baby born addicted to heroin can experience withdrawal within 48 hours of being delivered. These symptoms include being irritable, convulsions, diarrhea, fever, sleep abnormalities, shaking, non-stop crying, vomiting, poor feeding, sneezing, sweating, yawning, nasal stuffiness, rapid breathing, and joint stiffness. Heroin can also affect the baby right after delivery as well. If born addicted, they could be premature, have a low birth weight, breathing difficulties, low blood sugar, and possibly bleeding within the brain. To keep the withdrawal symptoms under control in a newborn, the nurses may have to administer small doses of whatever the baby has a dependency for, for a couple of days as the doses become less and the symptoms where off. Therefore, after a baby has been delivered addicted to heroin, they may have it in their system until they have no more dependency for it. This shows the importance of these nurses being there to care for and save the lives of these babies who are experiencing all of these things, while not even being a month old.

A neonate born addicted to heroin will have to go through withdrawal being given a longer-acting methadone, with a less dose each day. The nurses must look for signs of withdrawal in the newborn from 48 to 72 hours, and even longer if the Mother has been given Methadone-maintenance treatment for her addiction to Heroin. Most NICU Nurses use a Neonatal Abstinence-Syndrome scoring system after a baby has been born with a dependency to heroin. They will monitor their temperature, sleep habits, feeding habits, weight, etc. If the baby is experiencing early withdrawal symptoms, the NICU Nurses will treat them with intravenous fluids, holding, swaddling, rocking, a low-stimulation environment, and small feedings of hyper-caloric formula (used for weight gain). The last part of the scoring system test is to make sure the Mother is interviewed about the home environment that the baby (usually) will return to.