Nursing Management of the Newborn
Nursing Management of the Newborn
Chapter 18: Nursing Management of the Newborn
1. As a postpartum nurse your next client is an LGA baby boy who was born at 37 weeks’ gestation. He had Apgar scores of 8 and 9. He was circumcised. The mother is breast-feeding. Your unit requires a full assessment, screenings, discharge instructions, and documentation. (Learning Objectives 4, 7, 8, and 10)
Describe what a normal head-to-toe assessment would be for an infant born at 37 weeks’ gestation. What test is used to determine this gestational age? What is the scale used to determine the Apgar score, and are this baby’s scores normal?
As the discharging nurse, you are responsible for what screenings in an infant in the first 24 to 48 hours? What immunizations would be required?
What discharge instructions would be pertinent to this mother? How would you educate her or the family?
How would you document your discharge teaching? Write a sample narrative of your teaching.
2. You are the newborn nursery nurse and have been called to the labor and delivery suite to attend the delivery of a G5P4 mother whose pregnancy was complicated by gestational diabetes. At 2032 a male infant weighing 8 pounds 2 ounces was delivered vaginally with the assistance of a vacuum extractor. You have assigned Apgar scores of 7 and 9. (Learning Objectives 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8)
Relate the assessments you need to carry out in this immediate postdelivery time period.
Describe the nursing interventions you will perform before the baby is taken to the newborn nursery.
After taking the baby to the newborn nursery, you notice that the baby has developed diffuse swelling and bruising on the occiput of his head from the vacuum extractor use. Discuss how you would differentiate between a cephalhematoma formation and caput succedaneum development. Which one is more serious?
When the baby is 6 hours old, you notice that he has become jittery and is cyanotic. You check a heel stick blood sugar and it reveals a blood glucose level of 30. Discuss the immediate nursing interventions you will implement and what additional interventions you can implement to prevent this from occurring again in the future.
