Biomedical subjects

Diane L Spatz

Publications and source records attributed to Diane L Spatz.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Advocacy for breastfeeding: making a difference one community at a time.

In response to the need for health care professionals skilled in lactation management, a breastfeeding course was developed and taught at the University of Pennsylvania. Since 1995, Nursing 361 has been offered to undergraduate junior and senior students. The aim of this article is to discuss how through coursework, nursing students can provide breastfeeding advocacy and change the breastfeeding culture one community at a time. This article provides guidelines for others to conduct such projects, as well as exemplars to demonstrate how advocacy can change communities. Through development of an advocacy project during the course of a semester, a student learns about his or her identified community and is able to make an impact that often lasts years after his or her project is completed.

Breast Feeding↗

PubMed2005

The breastfeeding case study: a model for educating nursing students.

Due to several national initiatives and recommendations from professional organizations, more women may be encouraged to breastfeed. However, they will not achieve improvement in breastfeeding duration if their health care providers lack knowledge about breastfeeding or are not easily accessible in some areas. Nurses who work with families with children are responsible for a great deal of patient education and can affect women's decisions to initiate and continue breastfeeding. Therefore, it is critical that nurse educators find a way to address this knowledge gap, especially in already overburdened curricula. This article describes a successful model for doing so.

Breast Feeding↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Parent-infant co-sleeping and its relationship to breastfeeding.

Co-sleeping can provide numerous benefits for both the parent(s) and the infant. Perhaps the greatest advantage lies in its promotion of breastfeeding, an act widely recognized for its benefits to both the mother and infant. However, risks also are associated with co-sleeping, prompting many researchers to examine the safety of its practice. Pediatric nurse practitioners need to be informed on issues related to co-sleeping in order to educate parents regarding its risks and benefits, to assess the safety of an established sleeping environment, and to be aware of its prevalence in their patient populations. A review of the literature is presented to inform pediatric nurse practitioners about varied definitions of co-sleeping, the reasons why some parents engage in the practice, cultural preferences for co-sleeping, associated risks and benefits, and its relationship to breastfeeding.

Breast Feeding↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Ten steps for promoting and protecting breastfeeding for vulnerable infants.

Human milk is the preferred food for infants, including ill and preterm infants. Ensuring skilled and comprehensive breastfeeding support for these vulnerable infants requires a specialized approach. The author outlines 10 steps for promoting and protecting breastfeeding in vulnerable infants. The steps include providing the parents with information necessary to make an informed decision to breastfeed; assisting the mother with the establishment and maintenance of a milk supply; ensuring correct breast milk management (storage and handling) techniques; developing procedures and approaches to feeding the infant breast milk; providing skin-to-skin care (kangaroo care) and opportunities for non-nutritive sucking at the breast; managing the transition to the breast; measuring milk transfer; preparing the infant and the family for infant hospital discharge; and providing appropriate follow-up care. Material and examples are drawn from the author's research and clinical work at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Current research is utilized, and the role of the nurse is emphasized throughout.

Breast Feeding↗

PubMedDate not supplied

State of the science: use of human milk and breast-feeding for vulnerable infants.

Human milk is the preferred form of nutrition for all infants including those born preterm or otherwise ill. However, without the commitment of knowledgeable healthcare providers to ensure success during mother-infant separation, many infants fail to receive their mother's own milk. Care of the mother-infant dyad during infant illness requires vigilant monitoring of the lactation experience and the commitment of healthcare providers to take a family through the step-by-step process needed to ensure positive outcomes related to the use of human milk and breast-feeding for vulnerable infants. The science tells us that human milk is the best form of nutrition for all infants. As practitioners we must be doing everything in our power to make sure the infants we care for are able to receive their mother's own milk.

Benchmarking↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Preserving breastfeeding for the rehospitalized infant: a clinical pathway.

The benefits of feeding newborns with human milk are well established. Unfortunately some hospital practices do not support successful breastfeeding; practices such as early hospital discharge after birth, lack of appropriate follow-up primary care providers, and lack of access to breastfeeding support services can contribute to breastfeeding failure, as well as morbidity and mortality in the infant. Infants experiencing breastfeeding difficulties are sometimes admitted to the hospital with diagnoses such as hyperbilirubinemia/jaundice, dehydration/hypernatremia, rule out sepsis, and weight loss/failure to thrive. This article describes a clinical pathway developed with the express purpose of maintaining and enhancing lactation in mother-infant dyads experiencing breastfeeding difficulties. The goal of the pathway is to maintain lactation and breastfeeding while returning the infant to a state of health. A key focus of the pathway is milk transfer, a concept that is missing from much of the research on lactation difficulties. The pathway considers breastfeeding from both a maternal and an infant perspective, with a goal of preserving breastfeeding. It uses technology to support the breastfeeding process and could be useful for all practitioners working with mother-infant dyads experiencing breastfeeding difficulties.

Aftercare↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The family & breastfeeding laws: what nurses need to know.

Many states have recently enacted breastfeeding legislation that clarifies existing laws to protect the rights of breastfeeding mothers. Families can benefit from learning about the current breastfeeding laws in their states, as this knowledge may empower them if discriminatory situations arise. Knowledge of breastfeeding laws can create a more supportive breastfeeding environment and alleviate fears and anxiety about breastfeeding in public. Nurses are instrumental in educating families about existing laws and possible courses of action should discrimination occur and can direct families to advocacy groups and resources. Additionally, nurses can play a pivotal role in passing breastfeeding legislation through political activism.

Breast Feeding↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Medications and lactation: what PNPs need to know.

The current rise in breastfeeding rates coincides with a continuously expanding prescription medication market. Now more than ever, pediatric nurse practitioners (PNP) are responsible for ordering and consulting on maternal medications during lactation. PNPs are obligated to determine the safety of medications by critically reviewing recommendations that are based on recent clinical research. However, sources vary widely in the relevance of their information. Ideally, comprehensive research-based recommendations about medications and lactation should be based on the pharmacokinetics of drugs in the maternal system, the oral bioavailability of the medication to the infant, and the infant evaluation. Review of the data enables PNPs to effectively evaluate drugs and their actual risks to a breastfeeding infant, thereby supporting integration of sound evidence-based care into clinical practice.

Biological Availability↗