A common neonatal nurse training curriculum

Authors

van den Hoogen A, Johnston L, Roehr CC, Gözen D, Mannix T, Kühn T, Panas M, Petty J, Schlembach D, Simeone N, Stoniene D, Tency I

Click on the image to read the standard in brief.

Target group

All nurses working in neonatal care

User group

Parents, healthcare professionals, professional societies, education providers, health services, and regulators of the profession

Statement of standard

All nurses providing care to infants and their families have access to and undergo education and training using a competency-based curriculum and assessment framework.

Rationale

For over thirty years several countries have recognised neonatal nursing as a specialty with either training in the neonatal unit, or at an academic institution, resulting in a neonatal diploma or master’s degree. (1) Infants in the NICU are among the most nurse-intensive patients. To intervene before the onset of life-threatening problems, nurses must make complex assessments, implement highly intensive therapies, and make immediate adjustments dependent on infant response. Maintaining optimal respiratory, cardiac, and feeding status may result in improved development and behavior, lower levels of morbidity, and shorter hospitalisation. (2,3)

Standardised orientation and training programmes developed by neonatal care experts in collaboration with nursing organisations, and academic institutions can decrease mortality and morbidity of newborn infants. (4) In addition to staffing levels, neonatal outcomes have been shown to be associated with levels of patient volume, and training of medical and nursing staff. (5) In order to ensure that infants and families receive a standardised level of care, nurses should develop competencies through an integrated, developmental curriculum, both in university and practice settings (6) using an hybrid approach comprising classroom and digital based education/training. (7)

Benefits

More competent nurses are related to increased survival (8)
Significantly reduced rates of mortality and morbidity (5)
Improved nurse retention and satisfaction (9)
Consistency in quality of care delivery in neonatology (consensus)

Components of the standard

Component

Grading of evidence

Indicator of meeting the standard

For parents and family

Parents contribute to the delivery of nurse education programmes.

B (Low quality)

Training documentation

For healthcare professionals

Neonatal nurses are qualified in specialty as evidenced by the following criteria:

Registered nurse, period of preceptorship or mentorship including defined foundation learning within the specialty, completion of a programme of post-registration (post-licensure) education which links the following theory and practice elements:
- Theory modules relating to the care of the neonate and their family within special care, high-dependency care and intensive care, delivered and assessed within a higher education institution.
- Achievement of core skills set, undertaken with supervision of an experienced qualified neonatal nurse, assessed in practice and supported by evidence of learning.
- Clinical decision-making skills.

B (Moderate quality)

Certificates of award, professional portfolio

For neonatal unit

Infrastructure for educational programmes is provided (see NICU design).

B (Moderate quality)

Audit report¹

For hospital

N/A

For professional societies

Standards of care, including competencies at the local level are developed and regularly updated, disseminated, and promoted. (10)

B (Low quality)

Guideline

For education providers

A (post) graduate programme focused on neonatal nursing, including the following domains is provided: neonatal physiology and pathophysiology, family-centred care, clinical practice, leadership and teamwork, professional development and research. (10)

B (Moderate quality)

Training documentation

For health service and regulators of the profession

Common national training frameworks aligned with the relevant European Qualifications Framework are available and regularly updated. (11)

B (High quality)

Training documentation

¹The indicator “audit report” can also be defined as a benchmarking report.

Where to go

Further development

Grading of evidence

For parents and family

Parents are provided with the opportunity to review and revise neonatal nurse curricula.

B (Very low quality)

For healthcare professionals

Undertake a minimum of 6 days per year of continuing professional development (CPD). (12)

B (Low quality)

For neonatal unit

N/A

For hospital

Support healthcare professionals to undertake CPD.

B (High quality)

For professional societies

Develop, disseminate, and promote neonatal care competencies at regional, national, and international level. (6,10)

B (Very low quality)

For education providers

Develop and provide specialty postgraduate programmes using a digital/classroom based blended (hybrid) approach (7) with a focus on neonatal care.

B (Very low quality)

For health service and regulators of the profession

International mutual recognition of specialty qualifications in neonatal nursing is facilitated.

B (Moderate quality)

Getting started

Initial steps

For parents and family

Parents are involved in the delivery of nurse education programmes.

For healthcare professionals

Attend specialty training through on the-job training or through professional education programmes.

For neonatal unit

N/A

For hospital

Support healthcare professionals to participate in neonatal nurse training.
Provide opportunities for on-the-job training, and experiential learning environments (clinical placements) for students undertaking professional education programmes.

For education providers

Include basic neonatal care content in undergraduate (bachelor) nursing and midwifery curriculum. (6)

For health service and regulators of the profession

Develop and implement common training frameworks aligned with the relevant European Qualifications Framework. (7,11)

Council of International Neonatal Nursing (COINN). Position Statement on Neonatal Nursing Education [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2018 May 15]. Available from: https://coinnurses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/COINN-PS-0100-Neonatal-Nursing-Education.pdf
Lake ET, Staiger D, Horbar J, Cheung R, Kenny MJ, Patrick T, et al. Association Between Hospital Recognition for Nursing Excellence and Outcomes of Very Low-Birth-Weight Infants. JAMA. 2012 Apr 25;307(16):1709–16.
Lake E, Patrick T, Rogowski J, Horbar J, Staiger D, Cheung R, et al. The Three Es: How Neonatal Staff Nurses’ Education, Experience, and Environments Affect Infant Outcomes. JOGNN. 2010;(39):S97–8.
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Reid S. Australian Standards for Neonatal Nurses. Canberra: Australian College of Neonatal Nurses; 2012.
Dury C, Hall C, Danan JL, Mondoux J, Aguiar Barbieri-Figueiredo MC, Costa M a. M, et al. Specialist nurse in Europe: education, regulation and role. Int Nurs Rev. 2014 Dec;61(4):454–62.
Royal College of Nursing. A joint statement on continuing professional development for health and social care practitioners [Internet]. 2007 [cited 2018 May 15]. Available from: https://www.bda.uk.com/training/cpd/cpdjointstatement