Specialty Areas: NICU

There are several certifications that are required if you are interested in a certain area of practice in the field of occupational therapy. One of the specialties within the field of occupational therapy is pediatrics (BCP) and one of the certifications within the area of pediatrics is for the NICU. I think it is extremely important to have a certification in order to work in the neonatal ICU. Not only would you be working with new born babies, but you would be working with premature life. It's an extremely important job title and something that needs to be taken seriously. Parents are trusting you to help their premature baby find new life and successfully graduate from the NICU. Being a NICU occupational therapist should not be an entry-level job and you should have a few years of practice before beginning to think about going into that specific specialty.

This plays into AOTA's vision 2025 because even though it might be seen as just working with babies in the NICU, it is still extremely important to give them a good quality of life. A part in the AOTA vision 2025 statement says that OT "maximizes health and well-being," which is important for babies in the NICU because they are struggling to hold on to life and build an immune system, all the while fighting the risk of infection everyday. Therefore, all parts of the AOTA vision 2025 play a role for babies in the NICU because every aspect helps to give them a fighting chance and raise awareness of the importance of this particular specialty.