UAMS Speech Pathologists Earn Uncommon NICU Certification

By Ben Boulden

Both became Certified Neonatal Therapists, two of only a few with the certification in Arkansas, according to the Neonatal Therapy Certification Board (NTCB).

“It feels good to be certified in something you’ve really put a lot of time into and to be certified at a national level in this specific area in which we work,” Davis said. “It feels good to be recognized for something you’ve been doing for the majority of your career.”

Davis has 13 years of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experience and Camp almost 11 years.

To qualify for the certification, they had to have and document:

  • Three years as a credentialed professional.
  • 3,500 hours of practice in the NICU.
  • 40 hours of NICU-specific education.
  • 40 hours of NICU mentoring experiences.
  • A passing score on the Neonatal Therapy Certification Examination.

According to the certification board, a neonatal therapist is an occupational therapist, physical therapist or speech-language pathologist who delivers holistic direct patient care and consultative services to premature and medically complex infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Neonatal therapists provide highly specialized and individualized therapeutic interventions to support positive long-term development, prevent adverse after effects, and nurture the infant and family. They also provide education to the family and NICU team.

“The certification is just that extra step that will broaden what we are doing and give us a new outlook on it,” Camp said. “It’s one more thing we can do to advance in our careers.”

The timing of when they were notified by the board in early May couldn’t have been better. May is Better Speech and Hearing Month, and May 18 was National Speech Pathologist Day.

Camp and Davis said the focus of most of their work in the NICU at UAMS is with prematurely born babies who haven’t yet fully developed the ability to safely swallow milk.

Many different developmental outcomes are related to feeding quality, Davis said. If newborns don’t learn safe swallowing early, there is potential for other sensory and developmental problems.

Camp said her father was a physical therapist, and he suggested speech pathology as a possible career option for her. All it took to spark her interest was an introductory course.

What motivated Davis to pursue the same profession was her experience helping her father recover from a stroke and going through speech and swallow rehabilitation. Part of his rehabilitation was therapy to recover his ability to speak. She said because of that time in her family’s life she became comfortable in the intensive care setting.  She pursued working in the adult ICU setting early in her career. A supervisor asked for her help forming the NICU’s first dedicated speech pathology team, and she’s never left the unit.

“I was going to start it and go back to treating adults after UAMS hired more speech pathologists for the NICU,” Davis said. “It was too hard to say goodbye to it.”

While Davis and Camp already had deep experience and knowledge about infant swallowing to babies in the NICU, they said the additional work for certification had real practical value for them.

“In getting this certification, it also gives us a better understanding of what our colleagues are doing with the baby,” Davis said.

Camp agreed. She said what they learned also can be applied to the rehabilitation team including, occupational therapy and physical therapy. The certification process requires speech pathologists to look at the whole child, “the big picture.”

“Having board certification brings a level of expertise and added value to the multidisciplinary team. CNTs must continue to meet education and practice standards to maintain certification,” said Amanda Davis, the UAMS program manager for speech-language pathology.

The NTCB’s mission is “to recognize and advance inter-professional neonatal therapy practice through evidence-based certification standards including validation of clinical experience and knowledge essential for effective delivery of neonatal therapy.”

The rehabilitation program in the NICU now has three full-time speech pathologists, three physical therapists and two occupational therapists. Intervening to improve feeding and swallowing has reduced the lengths of stay of infants in the unit.

“We are very proud of the hard work and leadership that Jackie and Carol Anne provide, Amanda Davis said. “We have a wonderful, highly skilled team of Rehab professionals in the NICU that take excellent care of our babies and their families. Having a strong collaboration with the medical, nursing, and other support services in the NICU allows us to provide the best care possible across the board, around the clock.”

Jackie Davis and Camp also introduced, developed, and implemented the Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) program to evaluate swallowing safety at the bedside.

Camp said it’s always hard to see parents and babies struggle.

“To know that we’re setting these babies up for success to go home and eat safely but also to know we are helping with the long term outcomes of feeding issues, is very satisfying,” she said.