Live In-Person Course – 2 Days
October 28, 2022 – 9:00 am to 5:30 pm EST (US)
October 29, 2022 – 9:00 am to 5:30 pm EST (US)
Atlanta, GA
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SAVE when you register for Holly Schifsky’s “Babies Bodies and Brains” AND “Breathe Baby Breathe” Courses!
REGISTER FIRST FOR: “Babies’ Bodies and Brains: Multi-System Assessment and Treatment of the Premature/Medically Complex Infant for the Rehabilitation Professional.” Then, look for a coupon code in your registration receipt to register for “Breathe, Baby Breathe: Developmental Interventions for Infants with Tracheostomy Tubes“ offered on October 30, 2022 at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, GA at the discounted price of $215.
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COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This intermediate-advanced course will provide a systems-based approach to assess the premature/medically complex infant in the NICU/PICU setting. This course will focus on understanding the co-morbidities associated with prematurity and medically-complex infants and increase critical reasoning skills for the clinician to create treatment plans to advance motor and feeding skills for the infant. It will build on information provided during the “Baby Beats and Breaths” course but can be a stand-alone course for advanced clinicians working with medically complex infants. This course will provide the clinician with hands-on treatment techniques for positioning/handling infants in the Small Baby unit (infants under 32 weeks gestation), oral motor interventions to support pre-feeding/feeding development, edema management including lymphatic facilitation, post-surgical considerations for infants, trunk facilitation to support cough development, extremity facilitation to support ribcage development, pelvic floor activation for stooling, abdominal facilitation for infants with GI complications, scar assessment/treatment, and feeding techniques for infants with multi-system co-morbidities.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
At the conclusion of this course, participants should be able to:
- Identify three anatomical and kinesiological developmental changes for the premature and newborn thoracic and abdominal cavity as related to motor development for oral feeding and postural control.
- Apply at least two positioning/handling interventions for small babies, with focus on interventions for infants 28 weeks and younger.
- Identify three neurological and gastrointestinal co-morbidities of prematurity (including anatomical changes post-surgical interventions for necrotizing enterocolitis) and the effects those co-morbidities have on feeding/motor development for the infant.
- Differentiate the lymphatic system of the premature infant from that of the full-term infant and how those differences affect feeding skills.
- Assess infant edema within face, extremities, and trunk using objective measurements.
- Apply two treatment strategies with positioning, handling and manual edema mobilization using the provided case study.
- Integrate a systems approach to a current individualized care plan for a premature and/or medically complex infant.
*IMPORTANT: Each participant needs to bring a soft body doll. The ideal size would be 10-15”, but any soft body doll will work.
COVID INFORMATION:
COVID Safety Measures for in-person courses. Any guidelines issued by the hosting facility will be shared with you and must be reviewed. You will be required to show proof of vaccination and wear a mask at all times. Please do not attend the course if you are experiencing any symptoms of illness such as cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, or new loss of taste or smell. Please do not attend the course if you believe you have been exposed to someone with a suspected and/or confirmed case of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 COVID Safety Measure for In-Person Courses
Holly Schifsky, OTR/L, CNT, NTMTC, CBIS is an Occupational Therapist who has worked in pediatrics for the past 24 years with the past 16 years in a level IV NICU. She is a Certified Neonatal Therapist, Certified Neonatal Touch and Massage Therapist, Certified Brain Injury therapist, an active member of National Association of Neonatal Therapists, and has completed 6-month mentorship in infant/child NDT.
She has worked within the NICU and NICU follow-up clinic to maximize patient and family outcomes for the most complex premature and medically-fragile term infants. Holly received her Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational therapy from the University of North Dakota in 1997. She has dedicated her career to clinical care and advancing developmental care practice patterns for all multidisciplinary team members.
She has presented at many regional and national conferences including National Association of Neonatal Therapists, American Physical Therapy Combined Sections Meeting, Audrey Harris Vision NICU conference, and the University of Minnesota NICU conference. She provides Developmental Care, Feeding Intervention, and NICU education throughout the country.
She is a faculty member for the Neonatal Touch and Massage certification. She is the recipient of the National Association of Neonatal Therapists Clinical Excellence award in 2018, due to her clinical expertise and dedication to advancing the therapeutic interventions for NICU infants with cardiopulmonary conditions.
Holly afforded me the opportunity to synthesize what I have learned previously in a comprehensive and practical way so I am able to provide the best evidenced based therapeutic intervention to the babies I see in the NICU. This was the best course I have taken in my 25 years as an OT practitioner. --Karen D., OT
This course was amazing! It helps you really understand anatomy and physiology and then applies treatment strategies in real time. All information was appropriate and useful PLUS all of the research articles to support the interventions is SO helpful when bringing new ideas to your medical team. -Mackenzie D., SLP
VENUE ADDRESS
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Support Center
1575 Northeast Expressway
Room 148
Atlanta, GA 30329
Directions
VENUE LOCATION MAP
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More information coming soon.
