Jfk Multicultural Nursing

Registered Nurses and the Neonatal Specialty On August 7, 1963, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, was born 5 ½ weeks premature [37 weeks]. He weighed 4 pounds 10 ½ ounces, but succumbed 39 hours after birth to “hyaline membrane disease, now known as respiratory distress syndrome [RDS]” (James 1). Today, this baby would have lived. However, in 1963 “about 25,000 children a year died because medical science lacked the skills and the specialized equipment needed to save them” (James 1). “By 2002, fewer than 1,000 babies a year die[d] of respiratory distress” (Philip 807) and “doctors can now save preemies as young as 23 and 24 weeks with the use of the protein surfactant, ventilators, and advanced technology known as continuous positive air pressure” (James 3). “The death of this presidential baby was a critical event, according to historians, one that sparked medical advances [and increased funding] that did for the survival of preemies what Sputnik did for the space race” (James 1). The terms, “neonatology and neonatologist were first introduced in 1960” (Philip 799). Since that time an “increasing number of pediatricians have devoted themselves to full-time neonatology;” however, this specialized treatment evolved slowly. Prior to this era, most care of the newborn child was

“A neonate under the care of a NNP may need specific, focused care due to premature birth, low birth weight, respiratory distress, heart abnormalities, and other disorders” (GraduateNursingEDU.org 2). Neo Natal Nurse Practitioners work under the direction of a neonatal fellow or neonatologist, but they still are in total responsibility for their patients, making judgements when it is necessary to assess, diagnose, and initiate medical procedures (GraduateNursingEDU.org