Essay on Nicu nursing

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2016), preterm birth are the birth that happened before 37 ended weeks of pregnancy and is one of the number reason of newborn deaths and the second prominent cause of deaths in children below five. The preterm babies have chances of an amplified risk of illness, disability and death. In the first weeks, the complications of premature birth may include: breathing problems, heart problems, brain problems, temperature control problems, gastrointestinal problems, blood problems, metabolism problems, immune system problems. Long-term complications includes cerebral palsy, impaired cognitive skills, vision problem, hearing problems, dental problems, behavioral and psychological problems, chronic health issues.

Working within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit many nurses continue their education and move on, which is a common occurrence in most intensive care units.

Today nurses receive more and better training than nurses several decades ago on what to expect and do in treating and taking care of the extremely premature babies. Oxygen was introduced in the 1930s and this was help with the breathing of the

Recently friends of the family had a newborn who was having difficulties with blood sugar levels. Therefore, the baby was placed in the NICU. While walking through the NICU to see the baby, I glanced into rooms with babies that might have easily weighed less than 3 lbs. I then thought briefly about the differences between premature and full term infants: neurologically and health.

Newborn intensive care is care for critically ill newborns requiring constant nursing, complicated surgical procedures, regular respiratory support, or other intensive interventions. An infant is considered premature if he or she is born before 37 weeks of gestation and weighs less than 2,500 grams (g). A very low birth weight (VLBW) infant is a child born weighing under 1,500 g

When one thinks of a baby born prematurely many imagine a tiny one-pound baby barely able to live even with all the ventilators and machines hooked up to it. They imagine a baby that will be under weight and unable to leave the hospital for many months to come. Few will know the risk factors that come along with being preterm, and even less will know that preterm babies are just as capable of living healthy and normal lives. “Every child develops in their own unique way, and your baby 's development will depend on a range of factors, including his genetic make-up, and the environment and influences around him” (https://www.tommys.org).

The main undeveloped parts of these babies are their vital organs such as the brain and also the lungs, which are developed in the last weeks of a full term baby’s gestation. As these parts of the body are undeveloped, many babies have to rely on a ventilator to aid and support their breathing. Very pre term babies are fed through an Intravenous (IV) line via a thin tube into their vein and the nutrient goes straight into their bloodstream. From here, the nurses feed the baby some of the mother’s colostrum so that its digestive system can mature and the baby can move onto tube feeding.

Due to foetal distress, a first-time mother has given birth via caesarean section. Baby was well and didn’t receive resuscitation or admission to special care nursery, however baby

Being born preterm is a risk factor that put infants to higher risks of chronic diseases and mortality later in life. They have different causes and risks of mortality, morbidity, impaired growth, and non-communicable diseases. Preterm infants are becoming vulnerable to complications due to impaired respiration, difficulty in feeding, poor body temperature regulation and high risk of infection. Thus, being born preterm predisposes infants to higher risks of chronic diseases and mortality later in life. Babies born preterm do not meet the same growth targets as babies born at term, continue to remain below the standard growth curve and demonstrate reduced ability for catch-up

Premature babies have existed since the beginning of time. The only difference between now and the past is that babies currently have more chances of survival. This paper will discuss a few components: the history of premature babies, impact of knowledge and technology and the nurses that take care of premature babies. We have the advancement in technology to thank for that. Today there are still some cases where the baby might be born and still be too underdeveloped and die even with technology. For example, I have a friend that had a baby a few months ago at nineteen weeks gestation and neither one of the baby’s lungs were developed so she died. They told her that since she was so early that there was no way to save the baby even if they attempted to. The reason this subject means so much to me is because I also had a premature baby. My son came at twenty- seven weeks gestation and stayed in the hospital for eleven weeks. Although he came early he survived and I am forever grateful for that. Technology and Vanderbilt played a big part in that. Premature care was very rare but is now standard.

The NICU can be an overwhelming atmosphere as there are so many monitors and ample amount of equipment. The hospital staff uses this equipment to record the baby’s heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and temperature.

All infants who are premature or at high risk need to be treated at birth at the NICU by specialists. [3]

Prematurity remains the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality, accounting for 60 to 80% of deaths in live born infants without congenital malformations. Up to 10% of surviving newborns at very low birth weight (<25mm at 24 weeks was associated with an increased risk of preterm birth . (Goldenberg et al, 1996).

The article will also determine how these risks were affected by the gestational age at birth. This study was done in fourteen different hospitals throughout the United States and Canada. The infants that participated in this study ranged from 34 to 36 weeks. The findings to this study was late preterm infants were at a very high risk for developing health related problems during neonatal hospitalization. However, the study proved that these risks can be improved when nurses promote Kangaroo Care, early identification of problems, and avoiding bathing preterm

Neonatal nursing begins with the sweet infants born in the hospital. They are taught to take care of and save the lives of the little babies who cannot do it themselves. The babies that are born with deformities, were born premature, are sick, and are struggling with the daily activities such as breathing and eating will stay in the hospital with these nurses. They will stay mostly for the first 28 days of life, or the first month. This is to keep up with the way the baby is maturing and growing to be sure that they are growing at a good rate and are on the right track. Some of these babies may be within a life or death situation, meaning there could be organ failure, collapsing of lungs, undeveloped organs