The human infant is called a neonate who is less than 28 days old. (Potter, Perry, Ross-Kerr, & Wood, 2009, p. 333) The newborn goes through mostly reflex changes during this critical time which leads to bonding and deep attachments between the parents and the neonate during the first 28 days. The neonate I worked with was 18 days old, male, Muslim, goes by the initials MK and lived in a townhouse with his parents. During birth, the family requested as many female staff as possible due to religious reasons.
Physical Changes
After I got acquainted with MK, which I found difficult because of the way I held him and the absence of a motherly scent, I performed to the best of my ability an assessment based on the Apgar scale along with a physical assessment. MK’s weight was around 180 ounces and he was 58 cm in length with a head circumference of 33 cm. I asked about weight gain or loss patterns that the parents noticed. They replied nothing significant, just a slight drop in weight after a few days starting from delivery then steady weight gain. This can be attributed to fluid losses by respiration, urination, defecation, and low fluid intake. (Potter, Perry, Ross-Kerr, & Wood, 2009, p. 333) I also noticed that MK was using abdominal muscles for breathing at around 40 breaths per minute. His heart rate was around 130 bpm. His skin was a nice pink color; however, his parents mentioned he was bit yellow right after birth for a few days. This phenomenon can be attributed to an excess of bilirubin and the immaturity of the liver. MK received a 10 on the Apgar scale which measures Heart Rate, Respiratory Effort, Muscle Tone, Reflex/Irritability and Color of the body. Afterwards I tested for the presence of innate reflexes including: Mo...
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... the cues to its survival as I observed with MK and the deep bonding that was present between him and his parents.
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The very low birth weight are newborns that weigh less than 3.3 pounds (1,500 grams). Unfortunately, newborns that are under 3.3 pounds (1,500 grams) do not often survive, and the ones that do have delayed motor skills and cognitive development. The numbers decrease further to extremely low birth weight of 2.2 pounds (1,000 grams), where chance of life is very small. Low birth weight babies 1,500 grams – 2,500 grams (3.3 -5.5 pounds) have a good chance they will survive with proper care. Newborns that are small-for-date are placed in incubators that are sealed beds where temperature and air quality is regulated. The beds isolate the infants from pathogens and the environment. The babies need sensory stimulation to grow, so a recorded tape is played of the mothers soothing voice. Visual stimulation from video, and tactile stimulation helps foster physical and cognitive development in the baby. At five months while the fetus is in the womb ithas sensory capabilities, and can hear the mother’s heart beating, food digestion, speaking, and others speaking to her! The incubator stimulates this environment. There is great success with proper attention and care to the low birth weight babies, and. Many of the low birth weight babies are effects of parents that live in poverty, unable to access adequate medical care, and they experience stress due to an unhealthy family life.
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The journal associated with this organization is Advances in Neonatal Care. This information was established through the website and the Co- Editors ...
Neonatal nursing is a field of nursing designed especially for both newborns and infants up to 28 days old. The term neonatal comes from neo, "new", and natal, "pertaining to birth or origin”. Neonatal nurses are a vital part of the neonatal care team. These are trained professionals who concentrate on ensuring that the newborn infants under their care are able to survive whatever potential life threatening event they encounter. They treat infants that are born with a variety of life threatening issues that include instances of prematurity, congenital birth defects, surgery related problems, cardiac malformations, severe burns, or acute infection. Neonatal care in hospitals was always done by the nursing staff but it did not officially become a specialized medical field until well into 1960s. This was due to the numerous advancements in both medical care training and related technology that allowed for the improved treatment and survival rate of premature babies. According to the March of Dimes, one of every thirteen babies born in the United States annually suffers from low birth weight. This is a leading cause in 65% of infant deaths. Therefore, nurses play a very important role in providing round the clock care for these infants, those born with birth defects or other life threatening illness. In addition, these nurses also tend to healthy babies while their mothers recover from the birthing process. Prior to the advent of this specialized nursing field at risk newborn infants were mostly cared for by obstetricians and midwives who had limited resources to help them survive (Meeks 3).
Since neonatal nursing is my special interest and field, I chose to write about the health care options which are available to parents having children in different hospitals throughout the world. With the state of the art technological advances in the neonatal units, there are so many options available for the care of newborn babies. I reviewed the neonatal units in Australia, Saudi Arabia, New York, Tokyo, Ireland, and California, and I have learned what It takes to run a neonatal intensive care unit all around the world.
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Potter, P.A., Perry, A.G., Stocker, P.A., & Hall. (2017). Fundamentals of Nursing (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO:
The first two years of a infants development is crucial. They are dependent on their caregivers to provide them with enough nutrition, nurturing, attention, love, and experiences to not only learn about their surrounding world but how to interact with it. Without these experiences a babies brain isn’t given the chance to grow and develop the way that is was designed to. Unfortunately in many circumstances if these experiences don’t happen early on children suffer
Potter, P. A., & Perry, A. G. (2009). Fundamentals of nursing (Seventh ed.). St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby Elsevier.