Performing the physical assessment with the new parents in the room is a good opportunity for the nurse to educate the parents on safety issues in handling and caring for their newborn. It is important for the nurse to know how to complete a comprehensive and accurate physical assessment on a newborn.

New parents and even experienced ones will look to the nurse for guidance before discharge about how to integrate the newborn into their family, how to feed and soothe their newborn, and how to recognize when their… The nurse’s assessment should always work from the least invasive to the more invasive to avoid irritating the newborn and to maintain thermoregulation.

new parents in the room — a good opportunity for the nurse to educate the parents on safety issues in handling and caring for their newborn. caput succedaneum — benign condition that crosses the suture lines in which edema is observed on a newborn’s scalp shortly after birth and is related to trauma during the delivery. cephalohematoma — condition in which there is an accumulation of serosanguineous or bloody fluid below the periosteum of the skull that does not cross the suture line, typically from an…. lanugo — fine, soft hair that covers the newborn’s back, shoulders, cheeks, forehead, and scalp; more common in newborns that are born early and often disappears within 4 weeks after birth.