Introduction
Perinatal nurses perform an essential function in treating both mothers and infants as their well-being requires continuous supervision. Statistics show that infant death currently is higher in the USA than in European countries, and it keeps increasing.
Main body
According to Chen, Oster and Williams (2016), the rate of neonatal mortality (<1 month) is relatively the same as in the European countries but postneonatal mortality (1–12 months) is significantly higher. This disadvantage is motivated by a lower quality of life and socioeconomic status of parents. Such a situation is a matter of grave concern for both the community and public health providers.
Conclusion
That is why regular visits of public health nurses are vital for the prevention of negative outcomes and analyzing the living conditions, nutritional intake, and medical care of the child. Talking to patients is also an important step to improving health care as there are issues such as post-partum depression which are challenging to detect in another way.
References
Chen, A., Oster, E., & Williams, H. (2016). Why is infant mortality higher in the United States than in Europe? American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 8(2), 89-124. doi: 10.1257/pol.20140224