STATEMENT OF NEED/PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP) and neonatal clinical nurse specialist (NCNS) provide comprehensive critical care to newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The role of the neonatal nurse evolved over the last 20 years in order to keep up with advancing technology and the ongoing challenge of managing premature infants. The dynamic team that comprises the NICU staff is vital to the education of other nurses and physicians. In the 1970s, nurse practitioners commenced working in the NICU after attaining a bachelor's degree; however, in 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed the master's degree as basic advanced nursing preparation for practice in the NICU setting. Additionally, there is a need to create a true evolving learning environment within the NICU and to set up an appropriate standard for in-house education.

In the United States, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a complication in approximately 1% of all pregnancies, totaling about 25,000 cases each year. Since this complication poses many challenges to the NICU staff, this symposium will utilize RDS as a disease state example for creating teaching tools and protocols for NICU staff. It will address nurses' roles as educators and discuss successful communication with NICU physicians to implement quality control measures and formulate evidence-based guidelines that improve patient care. Having both nurses and a physician as faculty members provides an opportunity for discourse during case study examples, leading to an understanding of separate points of view in the NICU.