UNIT 2 COMPLICATIONS OF THE NEWBORN Flashcards
What are some nonmodifiable risk factors that put a newborn at risk?
- Previous preterm delievery
- Multiple abortions
- Race/Ethnic group
- Uterine/cervical anomaly: Cervix trying to dialate to quickly
- Multple gestation
- pregnancy induced hypertenion- terminating pregnancy is the only way to resolve.
- Short interval between pregnancies
- Bleeding in the 1st trimester
What are some modifiable factors that put newborns at risk?
- Age at pregnancy <17 or >34 years of age
- Unplanned pregnancy: prenantal care not in place
- Domestic violence: Stress and trauma to mom and baby
- Low pre-pregnancy weight: Malnutrition can play a factor on unborn baby
- Obesity: can lead to type 2 DM
- Infection: Mom and/or baby
- Substance abuse/alcohol abuse: Mom and baby connected so anything mom ingest baby gets
- Cigarette smoking: Causes babies to be smaller
- Late or no prenatal care
Define a very premature baby?
Neonates born at less than 32 weeks gestation
Define a premature baby?
Neonates born between 32-34 weeks gestation
Define a late premature baby?
Neonates born between 34-37 weeks
In our assessment of a preterm baby what might there color be like?
Usually pink or ruddy; may be acrocyanotic– Not as common in preterm babbies.
In our assessment of a preterm baby what might their skin look like?
- Reddened, translucent, blood vessels apparent; lack of subq fat.
- 23-24 weeks old skin is very thin and delicate
How does lanugo on a preterm babies present?
Plentiful, widley distrubuted
How does the head of a preterm baby present?
Appears large in relation to the body
How does the skull present in a preterm baby?
Bones pliable, fontanels smooth and flat, sutures approximated and overriding
How do ears present on our assessment on a preterm baby?
Minimal cartilage, pliable, folded over
Important during care to reshape the ear
On assessment of a preterm baby what might there nails look like?
Soft; short
On assessment of a preterm babys genitals what might we see?
Males: nonrugated, small scrotum; testes may or may not be descended.
Females: prominent clitoris and labia minora, not as much psudomenstration
On assessment of a preterm baby what might we notice about their posture.
- Flaccid, froglike position
On assessment what might we notice about a preterm babies cry?
Weak, Feeble
On assessment of a preterm baby what might reflexes look like?
Poor suck, swallow and gag making them poor eaters
Not able to safely eat before 34 weeks
On assessment of a preterm baby what might we notice about their activity?
Jerky, generalized movements
True or false: Determining gestational age in preterm newborns requires knowledge and experience in adminstering gestational assessment tools?
True
What physiologic data might we monitor in a preterm infant?
- Hr
- Respirations
- Pulse ox
- Bp if they have an arterial line
Nursing care for the high-risk newborn includes?
1.Establish and maintain respiration
2.Apply external warmth
- Radiant warmers… not able to thermoregulate on their own.. brain can only do so much at a time..
- 1800G is when we might start weaning off of external warmth.
3.Administer fluids and meds
4.Enteral feeding (nipple, breast, gavage)
- under 34 weeks we gavage feed
5. Skin Care
- Do not give baths right away due to issues with thermoregulations might do spot baths.
6. Developmental and family-centered care.
Whar are 5 physiologic and anatomic factors that increase heat loss in the preterm infant?
- Preterm baby has a high ratio of body surface to body weight
- Preterm baby has very little Sub Q fat
- Preterm baby has thinner, more permeable skin
- The posture of the preterm baby influences heat loss
- The preterm baby has a decreased ability to vasoconstrict superficial blood vessels and conserve heat in the body core (they cant shiver)
True or False: Providing a neutral thermal environment minimizes the oxygen consumption required to maintain a normal core temp; it also prevents cold stress and facilitates growth by minimizing caloric expenditure to maintain body temp.
True
What are some nursing interventions to minimize heat loss?
- Allow skin to skin between mother and newborn
- Moms have a natural hormanal response when they fill baby and will warm up to meet babies needs.
- Warm and humidify oxygen to minimize evaporative heat loss and decrease oxygen consumption
- Place baby in double-walled incubator; use plexiglass heat shield over preemie in single-walled incubator; use radiant warmer and pipe in humidity
- Avoid placing infant on cold surfaces. Use warmers during procedures; pre-warm mattresses; warm hands and stethoscopes
What are special characteristics of the preterm renal system?
- The preterm infants kidneys are limited in their ability to concentrate urine or to excrete exccess amounts of fluid
- Renal immaturity affects ability to excrete drugs.
Why might we see dosages for our preterm babies being under the theraputic dose range?
Due to their immature kidney.. they are going to have a harder time excreting.
True or false: Strict I&O are not as important in preterm as it is newborns
False. Just as important
What should we keep in mind with a preterm infants liver?
- Immaturity of the preterm newborn’s liver predisposes the infant to several problems
- At birth, glycogen stores in liver are rapidly used for energy, so preterm infants are at higher risk for hypoglycemia
- Iron is stored in liver, especially in 3rd trimester so preterm has low iron stores
- conjugation of bilirubin is impaired in preterm
Why must we be careful when taking blood from a preterm infant?
Preterm babies aren’t able to restore blood supply so we have to be careful with how much we take. This information is vital during report… so that we can determin our care for the day… We send the minimum amount of blood as we can.
What should we keep in mind about a preterm babies immune system?
1.** Because most IgG immunity is acquired in the last trimester, the preterm infant has few antibodies at birth**
2. IgA is found in breast milk and because of preterms infant inablility to feed-they do not get sufficient IgA
3. Preterm skin is easily excoriated and this, coupled with multiple inavasive procedures places the infant at great risk for nosocomial infection
How can we prevent infections in preterm babies?
- Nurse is responsible for minimizing preterm’s exposure to pathogenic organisms
- Strict hand washing
- Use separate quipment for each infant
- Most nurseries have adopted the standard percautions recommended by CDCC of isolating every baby
- Most nurseries have adopted the JCAHO requirement that all staff members have short-trimmed nails are no artifical nails
- Wear gloves
- Staff members are required to do a 2 to 3 min scrub using antimicrobial solutions
What are methods of feeding preterm babies?
- Total parenteral nutrition (TPN)
- Used when feeding is contraindicated though GI tract
- TPN provides complete nutrtion for metabolic requirements and growth to the infant intravenously
- A percutaneous central venous catheter (PCVC/PICC) is often used with LBW infant to deliever higher concentration of glucose
- Serum glucose levels and chemistries should be carefully monitored during infusion
LIPIDS are kept seperately
What should we know about gavage feeding?
- Syringe or tube feeding
- Used with preterm infants who lack or have a poorly coordinted suck-swallow-breathing pattern, are ill or ventilator dependant
- May be used as an adjunct to nipple feeding
- Administered by intermittent or continous drip methpd
- Early initation of MEN (minimal enteral nutrition) via gavage is now advocated in the preterm as a supplement to parentral nutrition
When might we remove the oral tube and replace with an NG tube for feedings?
When the baby starts trying to use a bottle
What are some benefits of gavage feedings?
- Preterm newborns who are ill or fatigue easily are usually fed by favage
- Infant is passive with these methods.
- Conserves energy and calories
As baby matures, gavage feeds are replaced with …..
nipple or bottle feedings
What are signs of rediness that a preterm baby is ready to move from gavage feedings to nipple feeds?
- Strong gag reflex
- Presence of non-nutritive sucking
- Rooting bhavior
What 3 things do preterm babies need to be doing in order to go home?
- Eating
- Off the warmer
- Gaining weight
What should we know about bottle feeding?
1.Need suck-swallow breathing coordination
2.Readiness to feed behaviors include: remain engaged in feeding, able to organize oral-motor function, can maintain physiologic stability
3.Infant fed in semi-sitting position and burped after each 15ML
4.Feeding should take no longer than 15-30 mins
5.Start with one session a day and increase slowly until infant can tolerate all bottle feedings
We never want to feed a baby when there are?
Stressed or fatigued… limit feeding to 30 mins anything more gavage feed.
True or false: We want to give them a paci during NG or OG feeding because it is pracice for them
True