Rural Newborn Care

Facilitator Lesson Plan

The Rural Newborn Care teaching kit contains all you need to host your own team-based active-learning event featuring work by Brandon Ferguson, MD, Family Physician and Core Residency Faculty for the Hidalgo Medical Services Family Medical Residency Program in Silver City, New Mexico.

The medical care of a newborn is fairly universal, regardless of the location of practice; however, small town providers do run into some situations that are unique to rural practice. The decisions we make as rural providers are often driven by the resources we do or don’t have at our disposal, such as a NICU or an intermediate care nursery along with specific pediatric specialists and equipment appropriate for neonatal diagnostic studies and procedures. Many of the decisions we face are not as straight-forward as one might think and can result in stressful situations for ancillary staff, providers, parents, and of course, our tiny patients. This presentation will focus on some of the challenges specific to rural newborn care. When all is said and done, we aim to provide the best care possible in spite of any resource limitations and being able to help these growing little humans is a feeling that is unmatched.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

• Identify unique challenges to rural newborn care in your area
• Identify and facilitate appropriate methods of transfer