Avis Flagg
October 2017
Avis
Flagg
,
RN
NICU
Southern New Hampshire Medical Center
Nashua
,
NH
United States

 

 

 

Avis was floated to LDRP and was working in the nursery. She used her assessment skills while giving a bath to a 3-hour old baby to identify that the newborn appeared jaundice. At that time she obtained a transcutaneous bilirubin on the baby that was elevated. She then obtained a serum level with the result of 14.1 (correlating with the transcutaneous bilirubin). She called me with the panic level for that age. We immediately got the baby to NICU, treated the infant appropriately and transferred the baby to tertiary care for further treatment. Her timely recognition helped the baby get appropriate care immediately without major complications. Ultimately, this baby could have become very sick and developed complications, such as kernicterus or encephalopathy, if treatment was not started as soon as it was.