Neonatal Team
Our Nurses and Staff
There are over 150 staff members in Neonatal Services. Our Registered Nurses (RNs) have been specially trained to care for high-risk infants. These RNs provide hands on care. Nurse techs and nurse partners are new graduates and students of RN programs, and provide additional support for the RN staff. The Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) who work in our nurseries have many years of experience and provide outstanding care for infants, as well.
Our Medical Team
The individuals who comprise the Neonatal Services team are the Attending Physicians, Resident Physicians and Neonatal Nurse Practitioners. This team works together to provide the medical care for each infant. Occasionally, an infant will require even greater specialization, such as those requiring surgical intervention-advanced services are available for those infants, as well.
The Attending Physicians have the responsibility of providing care for all of the infants in our unit. The care given to the infants who are the most critical is under the guidance of a Neonatologist. Infants who are not as critical, but continue to require specialized care, receive care directed by Pediatricians.
Resident Physicians and Neonatal Nurse Practitioners provide the direct care for each of these infants. When an infant is admitted, the infant is assigned to either the nurse practitioner group or to the resident physician group. Both teams provide excellent care, and infants benefit from the knowledge base of both teams.
Since OU Medical Center is an academic medical center, Resident Physicians rotate through the nursery and the remainder of the facility during their years of training. Physicians who are training to become Neonatologists are called Fellows, and their primary area of care is Neonatal Services.
The Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (NNPs) are RNs who have received additional training to become NNPs. Their only responsibility is to Neonatal Services, and several of our NNPs have worked in Neonatal Services at OU Medical Center for more than 10 years.