SOS Children’s Villages invite applications from suitably qualified and interested candidates who fulfill the eligibility criterion for the below position.

Position title       :            Neonatal Nurse

Reporting to       :            Doctor in Charge

Location               :            Baidoa

Job summary:

Nurses who work in the neonatal unit care for sick and premature infants, whose medical status can deteriorate in an instant. Nurses function as critical care nurses, whose small charges might have multiple intravenous lines and medications as well as ventilators to keep them alive. The employee will also be expected to deal with parents of the children in the neonatal unit.

Responsibilities:

Taking Primary Care of the Newborn Infants

• Participates in the nutritional assessment and feeds the new born according to standard feeding guidelines (WHO, MSF, SOMALIA)
• Order supplies and consumables for the new born section
• As per the hospital rules and guidelines, the neonatal nurse monitors the newborn’s vitals.
• Changing the newborn's diaper, feeding the newborns, giving medicines at the right time in right quantities as prescribed by the doctors.
• Orient the parents of the newborns to take care of the basic needs and requirements of the baby from the neonatal nurses.
• Closely monitor the ups and downs in the health conditions of the baby to enable quick decisions to be taken to save the newborn from any kind of disorders.

·         Blood testing, doing the job of blood transfusion, and inserting IVs and changing them at the right time.      

The Technical Aspects

• Do the task of keeping a record of the health details of all the newborns which are very useful for doctors and other nurses to view the changes and arrive at conclusions fast.
• Contacting the parents of the newborn in times of emergency and notifying the doctors

Providing Emotional or Mental Support

• Give neonatal parents emotional support, especially at times when the need arises for medical procedures, that is, informing the parents about their child's health complications and assuring them of better results
• Provide health education to mothers on newborn care, exclusive breast feeding and immunization

Respiratory Care

• If a baby is on a ventilator, the nurse should make sure the tube is properly placed, that the baby's oxygen saturation remains above a certain level and that blood gasses show good oxygen exchange.
• The nurse makes sure the tubing is patent, tape the tube in place and check it each shift.
• Keeping the prongs in place and assessing oxygenation levels if the baby is on continuous positive air pressure, or CPAP
• For a baby on nasal cannula oxygen, the nurse adjusts the settings, check the prongs for placement and assess the effectiveness of the treatment.

Medications

• Give medications according to the prescribed dosage and timings.
• Blood transfusions: the nurse must run blood at a precise rate via a pump and verify the blood type, in addition to watching for signs of a transfusion reaction.
• Starting IVs and drawing blood
• Assessing IV sites for skin breakdown or other skin damage is also done frequently, since newborns, particularly premature newborns, have very delicate skin.

 Psychological Support

• The neonatal nurse plans her/ his care so as to disturb the baby as infrequently as possible.
• Create an atmosphere that is quiet in order to enable the necessary infant growth and development as well as healing in sick newborns by dimming lights or covering the isolate to reduce stimulation, if possible.

Communication

• As with any nursing position, keeping the oncoming shift, physicians and other professionals apprised of any changes in the baby's condition is also necessary.
• Write concise and accurate notes and give a comprehensive report to help keep everyone in the loop so that care can be customized and changed as needed