Case studies

“I love the variety involved in my job I am able to rotate throughout all the areas of neonates and using my transferable skills across various levels of dependency”

I qualified in November  2015 my  first two years qualified I worked as a staff nurse on the Neonatal Unit including intensive and high dependency care, I was then very fortunate to obtain a specialist nurse role within the transitional care team where I cared for babies who stayed with their mum but still required some ongoing support. I continued in this role for around one year before I was given the opportunity to become a trainee Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. I currently work on the junior doctor’s rota in a super-numbery capacity caring for babies in all areas of the women’s services directorate including the neonatal unit (ITU, high and low dependency) delivery suite, post- natal wards (including transitional care) and the Newcastle Birthing Centre. My role in these areas includes participating in ward rounds, assessing, diagnosing and planning care for babies, interpretation of results and X-rays, learning to prescribe medications, attending high risk deliveries, initiating stabilization and resuscitation, new-born examinations and much more.

I am also learning to undertake advanced skills including venepuncture, cannulation, intubation, insertion of central lines and chest drains to name but a few! My job also involves non clinical work including teaching/support to both nursing and medical colleagues, development of guidelines and protocols and managerial tasks including appraisals with staff and recruitment of new staff.

What do you love about the job?

I love the variety involved in my job I am able to rotate throughout all the areas of neonates and using my transferable skills across various levels of dependency. I enjoy meeting babies/families in all the areas I work in and enjoy working with the many different staff groups in the directorate. I love the autonomy involved in the job and applying my skills and knowledge to independent decision making. Most importantly I love developing relationships with our babies and parents. It is a privilege to share their neonatal journey and the job satisfaction I get when our babies finally get home is amazing.

Proudest moment so far

I feel proud to have been given an opportunity to begin this role, the ANNP role is a new venture here at the RVI and it is a real privilege to be pioneering the role into the future in order to provide our babies with high quality care.

Any tips for finding a job that you love?

Take every opportunity that comes your way, there is no way I would have had the confidence to start training to become an ANNP without my time as a specialist nurse, I am very thankful to have that under my belt!

Tell us about any travel or unusual aspects of the job

I am actually studying at the University of Sheffield to get my MMedSci to become a fully-fledged ANNP!  I also get to travel to various neonatal conferences all around the country and there is usually funding available to assist in attending these.

What are your usual working hours?

I am currently full time and my shifts can vary from 8 hours to 13 hours which cover weekdays, weekends and bank holidays.

What training is needed for your job?

It is essential to have neonatal nursing experience and you must be keen, motivated and flexible. The ANNP training programme takes three years, part time studying and part time working to build up your skills. This is on top of the Neonatal qualification in Specialty which is provided to all staff nurses here on the neonatal unit.

Tell us what your patients think

We receive very positive feedback from our parents/families. They tell us that they feel their babies are left in very capable hands and receive a very high standard of care. They report feeling very involved in their baby’s care and feel empowered by staff to carry out feeds, cares and cuddles!