ASSESSMENT AND CARE OF THE WELL NEWBORN

Course overview

This practical course explores all aspects of care for the full-term, well newborn. It provides a strong base for the initial physical assessment, gestational age assessment, and ongoing evaluation including processes necessary to identify newborns that deviate from the norm, the immediate interventions and care required in those situations, and routine care considerations frequently encountered in caring for these infants from admission to after discharge. Additional topics include assessment of infections, nursery protocols, standing orders, common drugs and their effect on breastfeeding, and parental involvement, teaching, and guidance. Course Objectives: * Summarize the management of neonatal resuscitation and specified neonatal emergencies. * Describe how specific maternal conditions can affect the newborn. * Differentiate normal from abnormal characteristics and describe appropriate management for those deviations requiring intervention. * Describe warning signs of common problems of the neonate, evaluate the need for interventions, and select appropriate management strategies when needed. * Describe assessment, planning, care, and teaching involved in care of the newborn. * Describe the assessment and management of significant bacterial and viral infections including utilization of isolation principles. * Identify neonatal readiness for discharge and pertinent parental concerns, teaching needs, and post discharge issues.