School of Nursing

Continuing Education

Web-based Courses

Neonatal Intensive Care

Course Components

The course is comprised of a core didactic component and a clinical practicum based on the preceptor model with access to a virtual center of best practices (VCBP). Resources, research findings, and discussions with nurse researchers and other nursing professionals can take place within the course. Within the VCBP, an “online community of professional practice” will be established to help socialize and provide resources for the beginning critical care nurse.
You will:

• Discuss the standards and competencies required of a critical care nurse.
• Identify physical and gestational age assessments.
• Demonstrate the required nursing assessments and interventions for critical care needed to care for neonatal skin.
• Demonstrate the required nursing assessments and interventions needed to promote appropriate development in the high risk neonate.
• Demonstrate the required nursing assessments and interventions needed to provide adequate pain management.
• Demonstrate the required nursing assessments and interventions for neonates having:
  • respiratory health disruptions (e.g., respiratory distress syndrome, transient tachypnea of the newborn, persistent pulmonary hypertension, air leaks).
  • cardiac health disruptions (e.g., congenital heart defects, congestive heart failure, patent ductus arteriosus).
  • hematological health disruptions (e.g., anemia, sepsis, hemorrhagic disease of the newborn, disseminated intravascular coagulation).
  • renal health disruptions (e.g., acute renal failure, hypertension, plycystic kidney).
  • gastrointestinal health disruptions (e.g., adaptations in glucose management, hyperbilirubinemia, gastroesophageal reflux, necrotizing enterocolitis).
  • neurological health disruptions (e.g., intraventricular hemorrhages, neural tube defects, birth injuries).
    
• Demonstrate the ability to safely care for high-risk neonates.
• Identify psychological and sociological concepts, which must be considered in planning care for the high-risk neonate and his/her family.
• Identify legal, ethical, and social issues that have the potential to affect the health care of high-risk neonates.
• Integrate appropriate pharmacological interventions.
• Integrate appropriate family education for the high-risk neonate.
• Understand the major concepts or professional practice within the neonatal intensive care setting.
• Assume the role of a neonatal intensive care nurse.

Didactic component

Purpose: The purpose of the didactic component is to provide you with background knowledge, general principles, and opportunities for critical thinking regarding selected critical care health disruptions. Specific content areas will be covered within the section to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the selected health disruption.

Application of content: You will apply the knowledge learned from the content within the module to answer questions presented through realistic patient scenarios/critical thinking vignettes. This is a mechanism of self-evaluation; no scores are kept, and time spent on task will be included as part of the course participation grade.

Evaluation: You will take module exams covering the content provided in each module. Points will be awarded for the correct answers that become a part of your final grade. For evaluation and point breakdown, see evaluation section for the learner and the point correlation of a letter grade.

Clinical practicum

Purpose: The purpose of the practicum is to provide you an opportunity to apply course concepts within a critical care setting under the supervision of a preceptor. The practicum consists of 112 clinical hours and occurs throughout the course as you apply the concepts of each module to an identified group of critical care patients. The practicum includes skill observation, practice, and performance of skills.

Evaluation: The faculty is responsible for final determination of the course grade; however, input is received from both the preceptor and the learner. The preceptor will be responsible for checking off the learner’s competency on selected skills for each module. You must achieve a satisfactory rating on the skill performance in order to pass the course. The reflective journal for the clinical practicum is also used within the evaluation component of the course.

Virtual Center of Best Practices (VCBP)

Purpose: This online component of the course functions as a learning resource center. Within the VCBP are resources such as clinical standards for specific skills, research findings on the available practices taking place in the professional community, and the standard protocols of the professional nursing organization for specific procedures. Nurse experts are available for asynchronous consulting during a selected time period during the course in order for you to ask questions and communicate with one another and the nurse expert. Within this VCBP, the concept is to build an Online Community of Professional Practice where you and faculty can interact, and you have opportunities to interact with the professional community of nursing and healthcare practice.

Evaluation: There is not an evaluation component for the VCBP; however, as part of your assignments, the site will have to be visited to obtain the needed materials for the course.

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