Neonatal Complications and High-Risk Newborn Flashcards
6 cards from real Maternal Newborn Nursing Test practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Neonatal Complications and High-Risk Newborn flashcards as text
A preterm infant at 28 weeks gestation is placed on a mechanical ventilator for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Which medication is typically administered to promote lung maturity before preterm birth?
Answer: Betamethasone (corticosteroid) to the mother
Antenatal corticosteroids (betamethasone or dexamethasone) given to the mother 24–48 hours before preterm birth stimulate fetal surfactant production and significantly reduce RDS severity.
A 30-week preterm infant develops abdominal distension, blood in the stool, and feeding intolerance. Which condition should the nurse suspect?
Answer: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
Necrotizing enterocolitis is an acute intestinal inflammatory emergency in preterm infants presenting with abdominal distension, bloody stools, and feeding intolerance.
A nurse is caring for a 32-week gestation newborn with respiratory distress syndrome. Surfactant replacement therapy is ordered. Via which route is surfactant administered?
Answer: Endotracheally
Exogenous surfactant is administered directly into the lungs via an endotracheal tube to replace deficient surfactant and improve alveolar stability in preterm infants.
A newborn is born to a mother with insulin-dependent diabetes. Which complication is the newborn at HIGHEST risk for in the first hours of life?
Answer: Hypoglycemia
Infants of diabetic mothers have pancreatic beta-cell hyperplasia from chronic in utero hyperglycemia; after delivery they lose maternal glucose but continue producing excess insulin, causing hypoglycemia.
A full-term newborn is diagnosed with transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN). Which delivery method puts a newborn at higher risk for TTN?
Answer: Elective cesarean section without labor
TTN occurs when fetal lung fluid is not adequately expelled; labor contractions and passage through the birth canal compress the chest and help clear lung fluid — skipped in elective cesarean.
A neonate is showing signs of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Which set of findings is consistent with this diagnosis?
Answer: High-pitched cry, tremors, poor feeding, diarrhea
NAS results from opioid or other substance withdrawal and is characterized by high-pitched cry, irritability, tremors, poor feeding, and GI disturbances such as diarrhea.