We are extremely fortunate to have two talented registered nurses (RN) in our staff – Stacie Holt and Megan Eads. They are part of the Health Services team at Root for Kids, where they work with our Early Head Start kids and pregnant moms and Early Intervention kids. Today we’re highlighting their amazing work with the unique Early Intervention program at Root for Kids.
The program serves children from birth to 3 years old and each referred child gets a home visit with an RN. This happens upon intake and annually; the evaluation includes an individualized health history, hearing and vision screening. Our nurse’s role in Early Intervention is vital to the assessment and eligibility of the child.
The nurses help the family determine if there is a medical reason that needs to be addressed in order for developmental milestones to be reached. They also coordinate care with medical providers if concerns need to be addressed. This ensures that a child’s overall health is an asset to their development.
Stacie Holt, one of our nurses, recently shared the following success story with us.
From Feeding Tube to Full Nutrition by Mouth
Approximately two years ago, we enrolled a premature baby in our Early Intervention program who was a triplet and was born at 33 weeks. She had spent 2 months in the NICU. The baby was born with a cleft lip and palate and was unable to nurse or take a bottle. She went home with a feeding tube and 100% of her nutrition was through tube feeding. Later had corrective surgical repair of her lip and soft palate.
The speech therapist helped her learn to eat by mouth and overcome a severe gag reflex. The physical therapist helped with her gross motor development, and the developmental specialist helped with her overall development.
As she got older, an occupational therapist helped her learn to eat food with a variety of textures. The registered nurse worked with her and her parents on calorie packing to help her gain weight.
As a team, we served this sweet premature girl from the time she was about 5 months old until she was 29 months old and moved out of state. At the time she exited our program, she was taking 100% of her nutrition by mouth and planning on having her feeding tube removed.
I recently spoke with her mom and she continues to do well; so well that they have decided they no longer need Early Intervention.
If you have any concerns about your child’s development, please fill out our referral form. To support the Early Intervention program and its activities, visit our donate page.