(1066) The impact of a growth measurement training program on the Use of Length Boards in a Newborn intensive care unit

In the NICU, anthropometric measurements are used to assess growth, determine fluid and nutritional needs, calculate medication doses, monitor response to therapies, identify need to evaluate for pathology and intervene in the case of deviation from normal growth patterns, and use as a baseline for monitoring postnatal growth. Growth reflects organ development of the brain, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract. Organ growth and differentiation are more closely linked to lean body mass and thus linear growth. Reliable growth measurement is essential for nutrition assessment of the infant in the NICU. Neonates and infants born premature are vulnerable to nutritional deficits that can lead to malnutrition if not identified and corrected quickly. Neonatal clinicians rely on accurate data on all growth parameters to identify when changes in the nutrition prescription is needed but without an accurate length measurement it is difficult to assess growth in terms of body composition.