[llg]

The hospital has people in positions similar to what you describe, spacey. One is a RN who had a lot of experience in the unit and a BSN (which was required when the position was created.) One is not a nurse, but is a school teacher who works on developmental care with the babies and focuses on helping parents interact with their babies.

Because even the largest units only have a couple of such people on staff, such positions are rare. So, not only do you need the right qualifications for the job ... you need to be in the right place at the right time and have a good relationship with the person filling the position. There is usually a lot of competition for such jobs.

I have a couple of friends who do similar work in neonatal follow-up clinics. They got their PNP's and got the neonatal follow-up clinic jobs because of their combination of NICU RN experience and PNP skills ... and their positive working relationships with the Neonatologists. Their clinic roles involve physical & developmental assessment and also on patient teaching.