H&P Industries and the
FDA has recalled all lots of Povidone Iodine, Swabsticks, Prep Solutions, Scrub Solutions, and Prep Gel as these products were inadequately tested for microbial bacteria. These products were distributed in the U.S. Specific customers distributing the product and selling it at the wholesale and hospital level are being notified by email with instructions on how to return the product. Consumers that have any of these types of products in their possession should not use the product and should return it to where it was purchased. Consumers with questions can call H&P Industries, Inc. at 262-538-2907, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:30 AM and 4:00 PM CST.
Neonatal Apps
Mobile education is a rapidly growing field. The potential uses for mobile technology in health care are extensive. Applications that can encompass diagnostic tools as well as search engines for information retrieval specific to neonatology are vital to the future of the field. iPhone apps can be used to bring neonatal nurses and neonatologists together seamlessly on one platform. A few examples of iPhone apps specifically designed for NICU users and currently available on iTunes are:
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Neonatal Nurse: Jennifer Dukes, RN, BSN, and Morarji Peesay, a board-certified neonatologist affiliated with Georgetown University, introduce a novel way of studying and enhancing your nursing career with the use of this iPhone app. The cost at publication is $6.99.
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NICU: This App reviews questions for the Neonatology Boards. It is a quiz-building and assessment application for neonatal staff, NNPs, and neonatal nurses to optimize their test preparation. The cost at publication is $7.99.
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APGAR Timer Free: APGAR Timer Free is an APGAR calculator with timer function that chimes at 1, 5, and 10 minutes.
• Droid users! Sign up for the
free disaster planning app from FEMA. Blackberry Version 6 devices and iPhone versions will be available in the coming weeks.
• The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the National Institutes of Health is releasing the
free Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms mobile app.
Please tell us about your favorite neonatal app for your smart phone! Send information to uberman@academyofneonatalnursing.org. We will compile a list of your favorites in the Member Tool section of the ANN web site.
Shot@Life.org
The United Nations Foundation is campaigning to decrease vaccine-preventable childhood deaths and give children a “shot at a healthy life” through the
Shot@Life program. “Shot@Life” is an educational program to encourage Americans, members of Congress, and civil society partners to advocate vaccines as a means to save the lives of children in developing countries. For more information, please visit the United Nations Foundation’s
Shot@Life website and help campaign to decrease vaccine-preventable childhood deaths and give children a shot at a healthy life.
Will Rogers Institute Neonatal Ventilator and Pulmonary Grant Program
Is your hospital in need of ventilator equipment? The Will Rogers Institute (WRI) is offering hospitals monies through the Neonatal Ventilator and Pulmonary Grant Program. The grant assists with the purchase of NICU equipment such as critical airway carts, Neopuff infant resuscitators, incubators, inhaled nitric oxide therapy, and Omni Beds.
The grant application and criteria can be
downloaded here. Email the completed application to
pat@wri.org by December 15, 2011.
Reproductive Hazards
The U.S. Department of Labor defines
reproductive hazards as “substances or agents that may affect the reproductive health of women or men or the ability of couples to have healthy children.” Exposure to reproductive hazards in the workplace is an increasing health concern. These hazards may cause problems such as infertility, miscarriage, and birth defects.
The
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set standards specific to chemicals such as lead; 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane; and ethylene oxide that are known to have an adverse effect on the reproductive system. Only twenty-five states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have
OSHA-approved State Plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement policies. For the most part, these States adopt standards that are identical to Federal OSHA.
The preamble to the
National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) to the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) stressed the need for
more research regarding reproduction hazards: “While more than 1,000 workplace chemicals have shown reproductive effects in animals, most have not been studied in humans. In addition, most of the 4 million other chemical mixtures in commercial use remain untested. Physical and biological agents in the workplace that may affect fertility and pregnancy outcomes are practically unstudied. The inadequacy of current knowledge, coupled with the ever-growing variety of workplace exposures, pose a potentially serious public health problem.”
Conferences
• The
Academy of Neonatal Nursing invites all advanced practice and experienced neonatal nurses to the
9th National Advanced Practice Neonatal Nurses Conference, “Building the Evidence―Supporting the Practice,” in rockin’ and rollin’ New Orleans! The conference will be held in the just refurnished New Orleans Hyatt Regency, from
April 18–21, 2012.
•
MedImmune Premature Infant Half-Day Summits. Collaborating for Preemies: Small Steps…Big Changes will be held in Austin, Texas; at the Hilton Philadelphia City Avenue, November 10, 2011, from 10:00 AM–2:00 PM; in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and at the Columbus Airport Marriott in Columbus, Ohio, on November 16, 2011, from 1:00–5:00 PM.
• Save the Date! 12th National Neonatal Nurses Conference. Chicago, Illinois, September 5-8, 2012
Call for Poster and Podium Abstracts for New Orleans
At the heart of each conference are the Poster and Podium Presentations. ANN is seeking abstracts for
posters, and
podium presentations, with a focus of “Examining Current Practice,” for the 9th National Advanced Practice Neonatal Nurses Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 18-21, 2012. Deadline for submission is January 15, 2012.
Click here for submission forms and guidelines. Enjoy a $75 discount on the conference tuition if your abstract is accepted.
Feel the Learn
Online Courses from the Academy of Neonatal Nursing!
Check out the
extensive list of CEU offerings and use your free 15 contact hours included with each year of membership. Our most recent continuing education offerings include:
• Wound Care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
• Chromosome 22q11.2 Microdeletion Syndrome
• Fetus in Fetu: An Unusual Case Study for the NNP
• Resurgence of Congenital Syphilis: Diagnosis and Treatment
• Micafungin
New CNE Lecture Activity Series
ANN is offering the first of a series of one-hour online CNE lecture activities. First in this series is “The 1 Hour Apgar Score: Evaluation of Golden Hour Care.” Each CNE activity includes a 1 hour video presentation. After watching the video, and completing the posttest and evaluation, you will receive a certificate for one hour of CNE credit.
EBP for EBP from A–Z
ANN, the premier EBP source to help nurses provide evidence-informed care, has developed EBP
Member interactive tools on our website, which guides members through the steps in developing an approach to clinical practice founded on solid research evidence. Included in the EBP tool is an extensive lexicon of terms vital to the EBP process. To introduce you to this tool, EBP from A–Z is reviewing ANN’s EBP comprehensive glossary, which started in June 2010 with Absolute Risk Reduction and continues now with Cross-Contamination; Cross-Sectional Study; Culture; Database; Database of Abstracts Reviews of Effects (DARE); Data and Safety Monitoring Plan; and Dependent or Outcome Variable.
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Cross-Contamination: Diffusion of the treatment or intervention across study groups.
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Cross-Sectional Study: A study designed to observe an outcome or variable at a single point in time, usually for the purpose of inferring trends over time.
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Culture: Shared knowledge and behavior or people who interact within distinct social settings and subsystems.
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Database: A structured collection of records or data. A computer database relies upon software to organize the storage of data according to a specific strategy or model.
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Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE): Database that includes abstracts of systemic reviews that have been critically appraised by reviewers at the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York, England.
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Data and Safety Monitoring Plan: A detailed plan for how adverse effects will be assessed and managed.
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Dependent or Outcome Variable: The variable or outcome that is influenced or caused by the independent variable.
and neonatal health care professionals to share research and collaborate in efforts that lead to improvements in the care of infants and their families. Through Dr. Lucey’s efforts, exchange transfusions, a risky and complicated intervention for hyperbilirubinemia, was replaced by phototherapy. Exchange transfusions were used for jaundice until the 1960s. In the 1980s, Dr. Lucey brought to the U.S. oximetry, replacing the need for arterial blood gases, a very painful procedure which requires a skilled clinician. 
