Consents for newborn procedures...

[CEG]

I am a soon to be student nurse who is also expecting a baby boy in the next few days. What kind of consents are required to perform newborn procedures? I am referring to the eye ointment, vitamin K, hep B, and newborn screenings, as well as any bloodwork and particularly circumcision.

I have been afraid my son will end up being circumcised because no one checks the consents. Today I got a copy of my daughter's medical records and discovered she had bloodwork done after she was born that I was never told was performed or what the results are. I also never consented to any of the procedures other than hearing screening and all were performed- not that I wouldn't have but it would be nice to be notified.

Will this vary by state or is it pretty standard? What do people do to ensure their wishes are followed?

Thanks for the help!

Courtney

[TweetiePieRN]

I am a soon to be student nurse who is also expecting a baby boy in the next few days. What kind of consents are required to perform newborn procedures? I am referring to the eye ointment, vitamin K, hep B, and newborn screenings, as well as any bloodwork and particularly circumcision.

I have been afraid my son will end up being circumcised because no one checks the consents. Today I got a copy of my daughter's medical records and discovered she had bloodwork done after she was born that I was never told was performed or what the results are. I also never consented to any of the procedures other than hearing screening and all were performed- not that I wouldn't have but it would be nice to be notified.

Will this vary by state or is it pretty standard? What do people do to ensure their wishes are followed?

Thanks for the help!

Courtney

In my case...I live in California...the bloodwork was part of the consent I signed when being admitted. I believe it is also mandatory here in California for this bloodwork. Someone please correct me if I am wrong..I didn't have time to research this online before responding.

As for his circumcision, my hospitals in this area don't do them...its outpatient in the drs office. I had to make an appt. to have the circumcision done in his office.

Regarding my sons bloodwork results...no news was good news! Maybe that is why you were not notified of the results...because there was nothing amiss.

[fergus51]

We need a specific consent for Hep B and circumcisions, but the other stuff is just covered with the admission consents (parents don't have to sign a separate sheet for Vit K, erythro, bloodwork, etc).

[TweetiePieRN]

We need a specific consent for Hep B and circumcisions, but the other stuff is just covered with the admission consents (parents don't have to sign a separate sheet for Vit K, erythro, bloodwork, etc).

Oh, I forgot to add something! The HepB was not done at birth, but was also outpatient and was given when he was 2 weeks old, but I never signed a consent for it, it was given with my verbal consent after reading the info I was provided on it.

[JAHJF]

I work in TN and the admission/registration papers cover labwork, vit K, eye ointment, hearing screen, once on the postpartum unit mom's sign a separate consent for HepB and circumcision.

[JenTheRN]

I work at a small hospital in Michigan. Anyway, we always get consents for Hep B and circs. Our peds (who do the circs) ALWAYS talk to the parents first to make sure they want a circ. And we also always check the chart for consent before doing a circ.

[OB_or_NICU_hopeful]

I had the same fear when my first son was born....I was so afraid that circumcision was so routine that it would be automatically performed. I was horrified when a nurse came in asking for my baby so she could circumsize him. He wasn't mistakingly circ'd (neither was my 2nd son), but all I could think after the nurse left was "what if I hadn't been in the room for some reason??"

Good luck