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Blanchfield Army Community Hospital nurse Carol Lindsey helps Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville grow fetal monitoring program

Written by Maria Yager
Blanchfield Army Community Hospital Public Affairs

Blanchfield Army Hospital - BACH - Fort Campbell KYFort Campbell, KY – A nurse from Blanchfield Army Community Hospital recently joined nurse educators at a local Clarksville, Tennessee hospital to conduct training on fetal heart monitoring to increase its capabilities.

Certified nurse midwife Carol Lindsey has more than thirty years of experience helping bring babies into the world and has an advanced qualification in a fetal monitoring technique that allows her to train other nurse educators. So, when nearby Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville wanted to expand its fetal monitoring training program Lindsey shared her expertise.

Blanchfield Army Community Hospital Certified Nurse Midwife Carol Lindsey observes Tennova Healthcare Clarksville Perinatal Nurse Educator Trish Sutton as she demonstrates a fetal monitoring technique on a training aid during a fetal monitoring instructor class at Tennova recently. Fetal heart monitoring is one method that allows the medical team to monitor how the unborn child is handling labor. (U.S. Army photo by Maria Yager)
Blanchfield Army Community Hospital Certified Nurse Midwife Carol Lindsey observes Tennova Healthcare Clarksville Perinatal Nurse Educator Trish Sutton as she demonstrates a fetal monitoring technique on a training aid during a fetal monitoring instructor class at Tennova recently. Fetal heart monitoring is one method that allows the medical team to monitor how the unborn child is handling labor. (U.S. Army photo by Maria Yager)

“Fetal monitoring is an essential element of all labor and delivery care in the United States. We have an education program through Blanchfield for the Blanchfield training nurses and I have the unique opportunity to be able to share [this] portion of the course to other healthcare systems as well,” said Carol Lindsey, a certified nurse midwife at Blanchfield and nurse educator. “Tennova does take care of many TRICARE beneficiaries and by improving the education of their nursing staff we’ve improved the care and outcomes of our TRICARE beneficiaries as well.”

Fetal heart monitoring during labor allows the medical team to monitor how the unborn child is handling labor.

“Labor is a stressful process for both the mother and the unborn child. They are both going through a major physical event. We can ask the mother how she’s feeling. We can use her vital signs to know how she’s doing, but the only way we truly have to stay in touch with the fetus is by heart rate pattern,” said Lindsey.

An abnormal fetal heart rate during labor lets medical staff know that action is required to get more oxygen to the fetus. Sometimes it may be as simple as having the mother move her position to relieve pressure on the fetus, but other times it may indicate something much more serious requiring emergency intervention through a cesarean section, forceps or vacuum-assisted delivery.

“Over years of experience we’ve developed some ideas of what the heart rate pattern tells us about the fetal oxygenation status. We know that it’s important to have oxygen and we know that labor in itself can change that oxygen availability to the fetus. So by watching the heart rate pattern, we make changes for the mother so that the oxygen passes through her body more easily for the fetus or we may make

changes in her management plan and delivery plan if it’s apparent that the fetus is not tolerating the stresses of labor,” Lindsey said.

Labor and delivery nurses study fetal heart monitoring during their advanced schooling and must earn a fetal heart monitoring certification to work in labor and delivery. Additionally they must recertify on the skill every two years to maintain their certification, which could require lost manpower and costly travel to attend an off-site course. Having a certified training program within a hospital helps to keep nursing staff qualified with less disruption to patient care.

Lindsey’s role at Tennova was training the instructors and helping them understand the course content and administrative portions of the course.

“We’re very excited about this nurse program at Tennova because helping to deliver babies is the best job in the world,” said course participant Trish Sutton, a perinatal nurse educator for Tennova Hospital who was qualifying to teach fetal monitoring at Tennova.

“It’s valuable for these ladies to become educators and for the nurses to understand the principles of fetal monitoring to make their jobs easier and to make the outcomes for our laboring moms better.

BACH leadership supports networking with TRICARE partners, relying on their capability and expertise to help provide quality care to beneficiaries in the Fort Campbell community.

“Building partnerships within our network is critical,” said Col. Anthony McQueen, Blanchfield Army Community Hospital commander. “When we have maximized our capacity or do not offer a service, these partnerships give us confidence that our beneficiaries will be receiving quality care provided by the partnering facility.”

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