Requirements

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Requirements
  • The education hours for certification do not need to be preapproved CEUs. For all education, both online and in person, you must be able to describe how the education relates to your NICU practice.
  • For each course, hours of professional education are the number of hours listed on the certificate.
  • There are many options to obtain education hours via online webinars. They can be completed live or, in many cases, later via a recording. For instance, NANT and several neonatal vendors offer online webinars. Part or all of the educational requirements for certification can be met via online education.
  • Applicants are free to structure their educational opportunities based on what works for them depending on their location, finances, and time restraints.
  • For a comprehensive list of continuing education opportunities that relate to NICU practice, please visit: /certification/resources/nicu-specific-education/
  • Archived webinars must have originally been presented within 3 years of the application date.
  • When archived webinars are accessed, the applicant may be asked to provide a short summary about what was learned and provide a screen shot of the last slide of the webinar as proof of attendance.
  • Look for courses organized by reputable companies that are invested in providing up-to-date knowledge and information related to NICU practice.
  • Utilize online social media resources like Facebook or LinkedIn to connect with other therapists and companies that support NICU learning.
  • For a comprehensive list of continuing education opportunities that relate to NICU practice please visit: /certification/resources/nicu-specific-education/
  • No, for this requirement, you simply sign a statement stating that you have received the required mentoring hours.

All hours, going back to when you first became a therapist, in which another clinician guided you in appropriate practice in the NICU count as mentoring. This may include the following:

  • Time spent observing another therapist as you first transitioned into NICU practice.
  • Time spent conversing about a case with another NICU clinician. This includes participation in multidisciplinary rounding or disposition rounds with other professionals from whom you are learning how to better provide comprehensive care for an individual patient.
  • Time spent receiving support and guidance at the bedside from another therapist or care. For example, a therapist demonstrated how to do a specific intervention with an infant or a nurse demonstrated how an extremely low birthweight infant is transferred skin to skin and positioned on the parent.
  • Hours spent on the phone or email discussing NICU related topics with a colleague.
    • Utilize online social media resources to connect with other therapists and companies that support NICU learning.
    • Distance support can be helpful in accessing practice patterns from different parts of the country and connecting with mentors that may not be directly available to you in your area.
    • Hours spent listening to NANT Inner Circle Mentoring Calls or similar.
  • Hours spent learning from a physician, respiratory therapist, nurse or social worker in the NICU about things related to the care of the infant. For example, a physician explained different types of brain injury incurred in the neonatal period and how they may impact function.

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Testimonials

See what others have to say about their experience with us!

“As a new therapist, I was passionate about achieving certification to demonstrate competence and promote our profession as an advanced area of practice. Following extensive mentorship in the NICU, and after meeting the minimum requirements for certification, I became a certified neonatal therapist! I am thrilled to be a part of a growing profession who now has a successful pathway for developing competency that will continue to establish our profession as an essential component of NICU care.”
Lisa Olsen
OTDR/L, CNT
“I pursued the Certified Neonatal Therapist Certification because working with infants in the NICU is a passion of mine. It has grown exponentially through the years and I felt the time was right to prove to myself, my team, and my management staff that I had the skills and competency to lead in the NICU.”
Cameron Harris
OTR/L, NTMTC, CNT
“I have spent many days fighting for respect and proving myself to other professionals in the NICU. Earning the title of Certified Neonatal Therapist has helped minimize that fight.”
Casey Manning
M.S. CCC-SLP, CNT, NTMTC
“I was so worried that I would fail the exam (and be embarrassed) that I did not tell my boss I was taking it. Then I took it and found out right away that I aced the exam.It helped me be more confident in myself as a clinician. Reading the literature that was provided was great in helping me prepare and helped me understand what parts of my practice are evidence based.”
Ruth Wilkerson
OTR, CLC, NTMC, CNT
“The process of preparing for the neonatal therapy certification exam was as beneficial as taking the examination because of the knowledge gained. The resource list is invaluable and I refer to it almost daily.”
Lauren Adams
PT, PCS, CNT
Before the exam:
“The Neonatal Therapy Certification process has made me a more well rounded developmental care specialist. It has forced me to step out of my feeding/dysphagia bubble and I have been able to apply my new knowledge every time I interact with a baby and their caregivers.”

After the exam:
“The test was a challenging yet fair representation of what an advanced NICU therapist should know. I strongly encourage every NICU therapist to pursue certification. You owe it to your patients to be the best therapist you can be!”
Chelsea Moss
MA, CCC-SLP, IBCLC, CNT
“I feel like I come to the NICU with a wider breadth of knowledge and appreciation for all the aspects of developmental care.”
Julie Ecclestone
MA, CCC-SLP, CNT
“As a speech pathologist in the NICU, I was initially hesitant to become a CNT because I thought it would be more geared towards OT/PT studies. What I learned in my journey towards the certification is that everyone who comes in contact with an infant in the NICU benefits from the complex knowledge of neuro development. A different mindset, apart from simply “safe feeding” engulfed my daily practice. My OT coworker (and also CNT) and I began to tag-team ways to incorporate gentle, kind touch into each interaction with the infants. Often our efforts “rubbed off” on other coworkers and parents. My feeding skills have been enhanced by my all-in focus when encountering each baby. It’s not just safe feeding with no aspiration, it’s enjoyable experiences at each feeding time, whether bottle feeding or tube feeding. It’s preventing severe oral aversions in complex cases instead of undoing negative feeding experiences for years to come. I am a better therapist because of my studies to become a CNT.”
Cynthia Armstrong
M.S., CCC-SLP, BCS-S, CNT
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to become a Certified Neonatal Therapist (CNT) in 2018, through the Neonatal Therapy Certification Board (NTCB).I believe this qualification is very relevant to practice in the United Kingdom (UK) as it helps raise the profile of neonatal therapy and also promotes a core knowledge base and practice. I truly believe that all neonatal therapists should have the same theory and knowledge base when working with this high-risk population, their intervention and level of involvement for each patient may well be slightly different. The certification process requires collaborative working. I am extremely fortunate in my setting to have a speech and language therapist who was prepared to relentlessly ask me questions on neonatal feeding, until she felt I was competent enough to the take the exam. I hope that more neonatal therapists in the UK consider taking this examination, the more people who talk about neonatal therapy, the louder our voices will be. I hope that one day every family and their baby who enter the neonatal unit continue to have access to good medical and nursing care, but also have access to all neonatal therapy; occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy. I hope that every therapy discipline has the credentials to highlight their specialty and knowledge and that no family is asked to choose between receiving occupational therapy or physiotherapy or speech and language therapy again. I believe that becoming certified in neonatal therapy is definitely a step in the right direction.”
Emily Hills
OT, MSc, CNT, NTMC
Heidi Stubb
OT, CNT
Vanessa Nimon
PT, CNT

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