D.C. A new guideline for nurses on skin care for newborn babies has improved nursing practice in this area and increased the integrity of babies' skin in 51 hospitals across the United States. Neonatal Skin Care Project. Babies' delicate, sensitive skin and its role in helping babies transition from the mother's womb to an aerobic environment makes proper skin care critical, especially for premature infants. Neonatal nurses, particularly those who work with premature newborns connected to monitoring devices, life support equipment, intravenous lines or other instruments using adhesives, are especially concerned about babies' skin care.
Many procedures have the potential to cause skin trauma.
Even seemingly mild chemicals can dry out, irritate or even permeate infants' skin, resulting in toxicity, blistering and peeling. Fifty-one academic and community hospitals in 27 states participated in the Neonatal Skin Care Project.