The typically unplanned journey through the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) provides infants and their families with an early experience with interprofessional practice. This session reviews common reasons for an infant’s admission into the NICU, describes the interprofessional team caring for these infants, and discusses the role of SLPs as communication and feeding specialists in the NICU. The speaker examines neonatal abstinence syndrome, its cause, and the latest treatment strategies and outcomes. Finally, the speaker touches on the importance of support and post-discharge care for these patients.

This course is a recorded session from the 2021 online conference “Maximizing Outcomes for Medically Complex Patients of All Ages.”

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• describe one strategy an SLP can use to support families with an infant in the NICU
• discuss two ways the interprofessional team supports an infant diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome

What is Included?

You'll get online access to all the course content, including the full video, handouts, and references so you can access it from anywhere!

Assessment Type

Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.