The module will enable midwives and other registered healthcare professionals to explore issues related to examination and assessment of the newborn baby. The module is designed to enable participants to develop competence which will lead to autonomous practice in the examination and assessment of the newborn and to make appropriate referrals in accordance with the Newborn & Infant Physical Examination Standards 2021.

Aims

The module will enable students to develop expert practice in undertaking examination and assessment of the newborn baby’s wellbeing

What and how you will learn on this module

How you will learn:

This module is delivered using a blended learning approach which integrates a variety of on-campus and online activities, supported by Canvas, the University’s virtual learning environment. A complementary range of activities are employed to engage you in the critical exploration of key topic areas, and the completion of formative tasks during the module also helps to keep you on track with the learning and gain feedback on your understanding of the content. A sense of community is developed and maintained with frequent opportunities for peer learning, enabling you to share your practice experiences and to learn from each other. Level 6 and level 7 students taking this module may be taught together.

Academic writing and critical thinking skills are developed through ‘The Critical Thinking Skills Toolkit’ and other academic practice activities embedded within the module, that have been designed to nurture the skills needed to facilitate you to become a thoughtful, objective and reasoned thinker. This will help you tackle the assignment(s) confidently, understand marking criteria, use evidence, take a reasoned approach, make structured arguments and engage with other points of view. 

What you will learn:

• Adaptation to extra uterine life

• Newborn physiology – biological and behavioural

• Effects of maternal health and disease

    o    Substance/alcohol abuse

    o    Hypertension and Cardiac disease

    o    Haematological disorders

    o    Infection

    o    Immunological disorders

    o    Diabetes

• Fetal development and genetics

• Systematic examination and assessment of the newborn

• Systematic examination and assessment at 6-8 weeks

• Communication issues

• Health promotion

• Ethical/legal issues – consent, accountability, child protection, documentation

• Overview of national assessment and screening

Academic practice

• Database searching

• Referencing and avoiding plagiarism

• Critical Thinking Skills Toolkit

Course length: 10 Teaching Days

Assessment

Case review (3000 words) and Competency assessment document (CAD)