Becoming a nursery nurse requires that you first complete the necessary education requirements that will allow you to sit for the national licensing exam. To do so, you need to obtain an associate or bachelor's degree in nursing from an accredited nursing program. Registered nurses can obtain either degree, but those holding a bachelor's degree are more likely to obtain employment, especially in a more specialized field, such as neonatal or obstetrics nursing. Your undergraduate degree in nursing will require that you complete general education courses in areas like English composition, psychology and communication. You also will have to take various science courses in subjects such as microbiology, organic chemistry and basic pharmacology. The remainder of your nursing courses will consist of courses in nursing theory and practice.
Obtaining an associate or bachelor's degree in nursing does not generally guarantee that you will be able to obtain a position working in a hospital nursery. Most hospitals will require that you have some type of experience in working with infants in the nursing setting. Experience can generally be gained though one of two channels. One way to obtain experience is through your undergraduate program; most nursing programs require you to complete clinical internships, sometimes in pediatrics, obstetrics or neonatal nursing. If you are certain of your intent to work in the nursery, choose a nursing program that offers as many of these opportunities as possible. Another way is to obtain a position as a general nurse and volunteer or request nursery assignments to gain some necessary experience. Gaining your experience while you are in school, however, is a much faster route.
One of the surest routes to becoming a nursery nurse is to obtain specialized training beyond the bachelor's degree in a field of nursing closely related to pediatric nursing. A master's degree program in midwifery, obstetrics or neonatal nursing can put you in a good position when competing with other nursing applicants. Schools like the University of California at San Francisco, or UCSF, offer advanced nursing practice degrees in some of these areas. UCSF offers a master of science in nursing with a specialization in pediatric and neonatal nursing practice. Students can even choose to specialize in acute neonatal care to work with patients who have more critical health issues at birth. The course of study in these programs can include coursework directly related to nursery nursing, such as pediatric physiologic development, neonatal pharmacology and the impact of genetics on pediatric health and illness.