Prenatal vs. Neonatal

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I have been thinking of which I feel more confortable with and I feel more towards prenatal nursing now, however I looked it up and there's more about neonatal nursing vs. prenatal. Something about prenatal nurses also beong referred to as registered nurses. So now I am on the fence. What should I do? Im a little confused.

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I have been thinking of which I feel more confortable with and I feel more towards prenatal nursing now, however I looked it up and there's more about neonatal nursing vs. prenatal. Something about prenatal nurses also beong referred to as registered nurses. So now I am on the fence. What should I do? Im a little confused.

What is your understanding of the difference between "prenatal" nursing and neonatal nursing (I've never heard of "prenatal" nurses as such)? Prenatal means before birth, so nurses working in that realm would be taking care of women during their pregnancies (I imagine). Neonatal means newborn, so neonatal nurses take care of newborns (and infants).

Bedside "nurses" are either LPNs/LVNs (Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses) or RNs (Registered Nurses). You can google those terms to learn about the differences between the two.

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I have seen it written 'prenatal' and 'perinatal'. But you are right about defnitions. Peri or prenatal is working with the parents/mother before birth up to and a little after birth. Neonatal is working specifically with newborns, am I right?

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Nope - sorry... I know it's a bit confusing. "Peri-natal" includes the period of time immediately before and after birth... so that is a term that is sometimes used for LDRP (Labor-Delivery-Recovery-Postpartum) nurses. Pre-natal only encompasses the period BEFORE childbirth. In most hospitals, this is usually referred to as "Antepartum" - as opposed to "Postpartum" which is the period after childbirth.

In the US, pre-licensure nursing education produces generalists. Clinical specialization only occurs after licensure... either through certification or graduate education.

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It is confusing. For me at least.

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It is confusing for me

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One cool thing about AllNurses is that they have forums to specifically discuss various nursing specialties, including:

Neonatal/NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) nursing:

https://allnurses.com/nicu-nursing-neonatal/

Ob/Gyn nursing (i.e pre-natal, peri-natal, labor and delivery, mother-baby, antepartum, postpartum, and reproductive specialists):

https://allnurses.com/ob-gyn-nursing/

Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) nursing (a graduate degree that prepares you to deliver babies):

https://allnurses.com/certified-nurse-midwives/

To figure out what you really enjoy, it's always best to volunteer, shadow, or attend clinicals in the various units, but the advice on these forums may give you a starting point. There are hundreds of posts about the things that people like and dislike in these specialties.

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Thank you for that wisdom. I'll into shadowing and do some research. :)

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Thank you for that wisdom. I'll into shadowing and do some research. :)

Lots of people don't understand nursing education before they've ever been into it. You cannot go to nursing school to be just one kind of nurse. You will learn about all kinds of nursing before you can graduate from a basic program, then you take a national licensure exam to obtain a state nursing license, and then you get a job. That's when you begin to specialize (maybe). Many, many people think they'll be one particular kind of nurse (like prenatal, perinatal, or neonatal) but they find they fall in love with something else along the way, or the kind of job they always dreamed of isn't open when they need it or something.

If you want to be a nurse, I suggest you visit a few colleges in your area that have nursing programs and sit down with an admissions counselor to talk about it. They see people like you all the time and will be happy to discuss this and all your other questions.

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Specializes in NICU.
Something about prenatal nurses also beong referred to as registered nurses.

Interesting. I am a neonatal nurse and my badge says "Registered Nurse"

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Specializes in ER.

Are you in the United States? If you are, then there are differences.

In the US, we are more of a general education format. The nurses are licensed as either licensed practical nurses/vocational nurses or registered nurses. A nurse in one area can quit tomorrow and go work in another area. An example is I am an ER nurse but if I wanted, I could go apply and get a job in psych, L&D, med-surg, etc because I am a registered nurse and I have had general education. I would still need to have orientation in that area. Other countries do it differently though.

Neonatal nurse, prenatal nurse, or L&D nurse sounds like it is more of a specialization. I know LPNs that work in OB/gyn offices. I know RNs that have worked in OB/gyn offices too. I know in the NICUs around here they only hire RNs. Same with L&D. If they have "certified" then usually they are registered nurses who complete a test showing they have a wide range of knowledge in their area. There is a neonatal nurse practitioner or a certified midwife which is an advance practice RN who has a greater scope of practice.

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