Infant Assessment Flashcards
- Transfer of heat from the infant to cooler surrounding air. When infants are in incubators, the circulating warm air helps keep them warm by convection.
Convection
- The transfer of heat to cooler objects that are not in direct contact with the infant.
Radiation
- Air-drying of the skin that results in cooling. This is why drying the infant, especially the head, as quickly as possible helps prevent loss of heat by evaporation.
Evaporation
infant during the first day of life is 40-60 mg/dL; 50-90 mg/dL thereafter
Normal glucose
- Jitteriness, poor muscle tone, diaphoresis, poor suck, tachypnea, grunting, apnea, high-pitched cry, irritability, lethargy, seizures/coma, respiratory difficulty, tachycardia, dyspnea, cyanosis, decreased temp and poor feeding. Some infants may be asymptomatic.
S&S of hypoglycemia
- When an infant is jaundiced, this test is performed using cord blood. A positive result indicated that antibodies from the mother have attached to the infants RBC’s.
Coomb’s test: Direct
Rh negative women should have this test to determine whether they are sensitized (have developed antibodies) as a result of previous exposure to Rh positive blood. If the test is negative, it is repeated at 28 weeks gestation to identify if they have developed subsequent sensitization. If the test is positive, indicating maternal sensitization and the presence of antibodies, it is repeated at frequent intervals throughout pregnancy to determine whether the antibody titer is rising. An increase in the titer indicated that the process is continuing and that the fetus will be in jeopardy. This test identifies the presence of antibodies against fetal blood.
Indirect Combs test
- Movement of heat away from the body occurs when newborns have direct contact with objects are cooler than their skin. The reverse is also true where when contact with warm objects will increase their body heat.
Conduction
