The National Certification Corporation (NCC) recently credentialed three neonatal nurses and one respiratory therapist at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola in the specialty of neonatal pediatric transport.

Neonatal nurses Brandi Bryant, Kim Frasier, and Beth Risner, and respiratory therapist Susan Bowling each passed the inaugural exams this year and will maintain their credentials for three additional years.

Three hundred and fifty healthcare professionals around the nation took the exam, including nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, paramedics and physicians. Of those examined, 306 candidates successfully completed the credentialing process for the subspecialty certificate of added qualification receiving the credential C-NPT.

"This is very exciting, and these healthcare professionals are truly pioneers in their field and in the advancement of the neonatal pediatric transport specialty," says Deanie Lancaster, chief nursing officer and vice president of quality/risk management for Sacred Heart Health System.

Sacred Heart's Neonatal\Pediatric Transport team consists of a dedicated group of more than 30 neonatal/pediatric nurses, pediatric respiratory therapists and paramedics who have extensive knowledge and expertise in caring for critically ill infants and children. During transport, team members are in constant communication with the neonatolologists and pediatric intensivists at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital to determine and provide the best care and treatment for the patient. Sacred Heart provides both ground and air transport services and travels within a 200 mile radius from Pensacola to transport critically ill infants and children to our facility. For distances greater then 200 miles, our transport team has the capability to contract a fixed wing air ambulance service to move infants and children to and from Sacred Heart Children's Hospital

The NCC subspecialty examination leading to a certification of added qualification in Neonatal Pediatric Transport is a voluntary process. The comprehensive exam and contents for the examination included a special section on "understanding the impact of transport physiology and identification of life-threatening states and initiating appropriate interventions for the neonatal and pediatric patient."

For more information, please call Sacred Heart at (850) 416-7000 or visit www.sacred-heart.org.

About Sacred Heart Children's Hospital
Since 1969, Sacred Heart Children's Hospital has provided quality, compassionate care to children across the Gulf Coast, regardless of their ability to pay. Located in Pensacola, Fla., our state-of-the-art, 119-bed hospital is the only dedicated children's hospital in Northwest Florida. Children's Hospital is home to Northwest Florida's only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, caring for the most critically ill, injured, and premature infants.

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