Neonatal Nursing and Infant Mortality

Lecture 1: Introduction

• Neonatal nursing focuses on newborn children, particularly during the first four weeks of life.
• Neonatal period spans from day 1 to day 28 of life.

Infant Mortality

• Infant mortality is the number of deaths per 1,000 live births during the first year of life.
• It is divided into neonatal mortality (within 28 days) and post-neonatal mortality (28 days to 11 months).
• Jordan has seen a significant drop in infant mortality rates: from 32 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 17 in 2012 and 14 in 2017-2018.

Birth Weight

• Low birth weight (LBW) is a major determinant of neonatal deaths in the US.
• LBW is defined as a weight less than 2500 grams.
• Lower birth weight correlates with a higher mortality rate.

Other Risk Factors for Infant Mortality

• Congenital anomalies
• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• African-American race
• Male gender
• Premature or prolonged gestation
• Maternal age (younger or older)
• Newborn affected by maternal pregnancy complications
• Maternal education

Family-Centered Care

• Family-centered care is an approach to healthcare planning, delivery, and evaluation, focusing on mutually beneficial partnerships among healthcare providers, patients, and families.

• Key elements include recognizing the family's constant presence in a child's life, facilitating collaboration at all levels (hospital, home, and community), and exchanging unbiased information in a supportive manner.

• Systems should encourage, support, and enhance family strengths.

• Needs of all family members need to be addressed.

• Home, hospital, and community services must be flexible, accessible, and comprehensive in responding to diverse family needs.

• Enabling families to display current abilities and competencies, and empower them by helping them maintain or develop control is key.

Neonatal Nurse's Role

• Disease prevention and health promotion includes educating families about health promotion and injury prevention.
• Ethical decision-making in a supportive environment, including dispute resolution and discussion of ethical dilemmas is crucial.

Infection Control Issues

• Handwashing and gowning rooms should be located at the entrance and have self-closing doors.

Management of Nursing Care

• A comprehensive list of neonatal care management tasks is provided.

Levels of Neonatal Care

• Different levels of neonatal care (Level I-IV) are described, based on the complexity of the infant's needs. Level I is basic, including well newborn nurseries; Level II is special care; Level III is intensive care for premature or low birth weight infants; Level IV offers regionalized intensive care and specialized services.

Levels of Care

• Neonatal care has grown in complexity, requiring more integrated care for premature and low birthweight infants than primary, secondary, or tertiary care classifications alone can provide.

Developmental Care

• Developmental care is a range of medical and nursing interventions that decrease the stress of premature neonates in intensive care units.
• Interventions help promote optimal neurobehavioral development by addressing environmental factors such as light and sound.

This quiz covers key topics in neonatal nursing, focusing on the care of newborns during their first four weeks. It explores infant mortality rates, the effects of low birth weight, and various risk factors that influence neonatal health. Test your knowledge on these critical aspects of caring for newborns.