Beyond Developmental Care: Transforming the Essence of Neonatal Therapy into Clinical Practice

Course Description:

Neonatal therapists utilize a variety of theoretical frames of reference to support clinical interventions and the creation of care plans for infants in the NICU. During this lecture, a conceptual model will be presented to outline the overarching principles of neonatal therapy with a focus on clinical interventions to support sensory and motor outcomes. This session will outline neurological maturation for infants during the neuroprotection, neuropromotion, and neuroplasticity phases of development. Video demonstrations with specific clinical interventions for infants during each phase of development will highlight neonatal therapy handling interventions to support sensory and motor skill development. This session will provide clinical reasoning and treatment interventions to expand the neonatal therapists’ interventions for premature and medically-complex infants.

Objectives:

1. Integrate neonatal therapy critical reasoning during direct patient care to promote physiological stability and sensory/motor skill development.
2. Understand use of the STOP approach during direct neonatal interventions to promote Sensory/Safety, Tactile input, Opportunities for movement, and Positioning.
3. Utilize clinical skills for handling infants during the neuroprotection, neuropromotion, and neuroplasticity phases of development during NICU admission.

Instructional Method:
Recorded webinar, lecture, PowerPoint slides

Target Audience: OT, SLP, PT, RN, MD and Neonatal professionals

Level: Intermediate

Speaker Bio

Holly Schifsky, OTR/L, CNT, NTMTC, CBIS, is a Neonatal Occupational Therapist who has worked in pediatrics for the past 28 years, with the past 20 years in a level IV NICU. She is the Professional Practice Neonatal Therapist for M Health Fairview, providing clinical leadership and multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental care. She is a Certified Neonatal Therapist, Certified Neonatal Touch and Massage Therapist, Certified Brain Injury therapist, an active member of the National Association of Neonatal Therapists. She has worked in the NICU and NICU follow-up clinic to maximize patient and family outcomes for the most complex premature and medically fragile term infants. She has dedicated her career to clinical care and advancing developmental care practices for all multidisciplinary team members. She is a sought-after speaker for a variety of NICU topics, including neurodevelopmental care and medically complex therapeutic interventions. She is a faculty member for Neonatal Touch and Massage, Education Resources Inc, and the only certified NICU/infant Manual Edema Mobilization faculty in the country. She is the recipient of the NANT Clinical Excellence Award in 2018.

Disclosures

Holly Schifsky, OTR/L, CNT, NTMTC, CBIS

Financial Disclosures: Faculty member for Education Resources Inc, Creative Therapy Consultants, and Manual Edema Mobilization, and receives a speaking fee for each contracted course.

Nonfinancial disclosures: No relevant disclosures.

Registration information:

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