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What is a Postpartum Nurse
A postpartum, or mother-baby nurse, specializes in caring for mothers and newborns after delivery, but before they go home from the hospital. With a caring demeanor and watchful eye, postpartum nurses help new mothers, infants, and families during the remarkable time of welcoming a new baby.
Does this specialized and heartwarming area of nursing sound like the right fit for you? With millions of infants being born each year, postpartum nurses are in high demand and are needed in every area of the United States. A wide range of postpartum nurse and postpartum travel nurse opportunities are available to you!
What does a Postpartum Nurse Do?
Postpartum RNs provide nursing care to several mothers and newborns at a time. In postpartum nursing, a mother and her newborn are often called a “couplet.” Postpartum nurses typically care for up to three couplets each shift, but sometimes more or less, depending on the acuity of their patients.
While the postpartum nurse job description can vary, the primary responsibilities of postpartum nurses include:
- Nursing care, monitoring, and assessment of both recovering mothers and newborn infants.
- Administering medication, performing blood tests, and monitoring lab results of postpartum mothers and infants.
- Responding to postpartum and newborn emergencies.
- Providing specialized care to recovering mothers to ensure proper healing after delivery or cesarean section. While maternal complications are rare, postpartum nurses keep a watchful eye on their patients and alert the medical team as needed.
- Babies need specialized care, too! The first few hours and days of an infant's life are an amazing time of transition, learning, and growth. Postpartum nurses ensure their tiny patients are adjusting well and help where needed.
- Providing education. New families and parents often have many questions about infant care, breastfeeding, what’s to be expected, what’s unexpected, and more. Postpartum nurses provide a wealth of valuable information and ensure families feel comfortable and prepared to take their little ones home from the hospital.
In addition to the above, postpartum nurses provide reassurance and comfort to their patients during a transformative time. A skilled postpartum nurse is full of tips, knowledge, and experience that help families feel at ease and cared for.
What skills does a Postpartum Nurse need?
Postpartum nurses need to be adept at caring for both mothers and newborns. You must have an extremely versatile skill set here! After all, the care that newborns need is greatly different than that of a postpartum mother. As a mother and baby nurse, you will become an expert in both.
A postpartum nurse expertly guides their patients through all aspects of recovering from delivery and the first few days of their newborn’s life.
Postpartum nurses are top-tier educators and teachers who ensure new families leave the hospital feeling ready and confident to care for their newborn at home.
Postpartum nurses are skilled in the administration of medications to both newborns and adults. Dosages and medications vary widely between these two patients, and extreme care and caution are needed here.
Postpartum nurses are calm, patient, and caring. Having a newborn can be stressful for everyone at times! Their patients are often exhausted, anxious, and full of questions. A postpartum nurse can make their patients feel seen, heard, understood.
Postpartum nurses need strong communication skills to do their jobs well. You will be communicating with families of all backgrounds, as well as physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers.
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What skills does a Postpartum Nurse need?
Postpartum nurses need to be adept at caring for both mothers and newborns. You must have an extremely versatile skill set here! After all, the care that newborns need is greatly different than that of a postpartum mother. As a mother and baby nurse, you will become an expert in both.
A postpartum nurse expertly guides their patients through all aspects of recovering from delivery and the first few days of their newborn’s life.
Postpartum nurses are top-tier educators and teachers who ensure new families leave the hospital feeling ready and confident to care for their newborn at home.
Postpartum nurses are skilled in the administration of medications to both newborns and adults. Dosages and medications vary widely between these two patients, and extreme care and caution are needed here.
Postpartum nurses are calm, patient, and caring. Having a newborn can be stressful for everyone at times! Their patients are often exhausted, anxious, and full of questions. A postpartum nurse can make their patients feel seen, heard, understood.
Postpartum nurses need strong communication skills to do their jobs well. You will be communicating with families of all backgrounds, as well as physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers.
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Postpartum Nurses
Work settings for Postpartum Nurses
Postpartum nurses generally work in hospitals. A hospital may have a separate postpartum unit where families are transferred to recover after labor and delivery. Other hospitals may combine labor and delivery and postpartum into one nursing unit.
Postpartum nurses typically work full-time, which consists of three 12-hour shifts per week. Postpartum nurses can also work part-time, PRN, and as travel postpartum nurses for more flexibility.
Common Cases Postpartum Nurses Encounter
While postpartum nurses care for women and infants after childbirth, they can see an extensive range of cases and conditions during this time! No shift will ever be the same, and each family's needs will be different.
- Patients recovering from both cesarean and vagin*l deliveries.
- Patients who have high-risk pregnancies or other medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. These patients may require closer monitoring and need to stay in the hospital longer.
- While postpartum complications can be rare, they do happen. Postpartum nurses are always watching for excessive bleeding, hemorrhage, blood clots, high blood pressure, and more.
- Newborn infants who are born slightly early, are small for their age, are jaundiced, or have difficulty eating can often be cared for by postpartum nurses.
- Sometimes, infants need to be transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for even more specialized care. Postpartum nurses stay alert for signs that an infant may need increased attention and alert the team as needed.
- While childbirth can be a very joyful time in someone’s life, postpartum nurses also care for families whose childbirth journey doesn’t go as planned. Their unique skills, knowledge, and empathy help women and families through miscarriages, stillbirths, and other complications of pregnancy and delivery.
How to Become A Postpartum Nurse
The first step to becoming a postpartum nurse is earning an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. Once you have a nursing degree, here’s your next move:
- Study for and pass the NCLEX-RN licensure exam.
- After passing the NCLEX, you must apply for a nursing license in the state where you wish to work. Take a look at our licensure guide for more information on this process.
- Once you have a nursing license, begin applying for postpartum nurse jobs. Some units hire postpartum nurses without prior nursing experience, but others may require nursing experience first.
- If you need to gain experience as a nurse before applying for a postpartum nursing job, medical-surgical nursing is a great place to start. Other areas that allow you to gain valuable experience prior to postpartum nursing are outpatient women’s health, outpatient pediatrics, and community health jobs.
- Is it hard to become a postpartum nurse? Like any area of nursing, hard work and determination are needed in this specialty. Postpartum nursing has unique challenges as well as meaningful rewards.
- Once you are hired onto a postpartum nursing unit, continue to grow your skills and challenge yourself!
How to Advance Your Career As A Postpartum Nurse
There are plenty of opportunities to advance and expand your career as a postpartum nurse. Postpartum nurses with advanced degrees, skills, and certifications are often amongst the highest-paid postpartum nurses, If you choose to further your education and obtain a master’s or doctoral degree, you can become a:
- Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM)
- Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
- Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP)
There are plenty of ways to grow your skills in postpartum nursing that don’t always require an advanced degree. Here are a few options that don’t require graduate school:
- Postpartum nurse manager
- Postpartum nurse educator
- Postpartum nursing clinical instructor
- Lactation nurse specialist
Education Requirements & Helpful Certification
To work as a postpartum nurse, you will need a nursing degree and a nursing license. Once you have those credentials, here’s what to do next:
- Postpartum nurses must have their Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
- Different facilities require different certifications in newborn resuscitation. Depending on the unit you work in, you may be required to complete the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) or S.T.A.B.L.E. certification, which stands for sugar, temperature, airway, blood pressure, lab work, and emotional support.
Once you have experience in postpartum nursing, you may choose to obtain further certification to show your dedication to your patients and profession. The Registered Nurse Certification- Maternal Newborn Nursing (RNC-MNN) highlights your professional experience in the care of the childbearing family in both hospital and outpatient settings, from birth to six weeks.
Average Salary For Postpartum Nurses
In the United States, postpartum nurses make between $72,000 and $99,000 annually, with the average pay being $80,000 annually. Postpartum nurses with more experience, certifications, advanced degrees, and postpartum travel nurses can earn considerably more.
Postpartum nurse pay also varies by location. Currently, Washington is the state that pays the most for postpartum nurses, followed by Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, and New York.
Don’t forget that Trusted Health’s Travel Nurse Salary Guide is an excellent resource for staying current on the latest travel RN postpartum pay information and more!
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