Baptist Health Paducah occupational therapists receive neonatal certification

Baptist Health Paducah is now home to four CNTs who work with infants.

(Paducah, Ky.)  May 9, 2022 — Certified Neonatal Therapists (CNTs) are not common, but Baptist Health Paducah is now home to four CNTs who work with infants in the John and Loree Eckstein Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Occupational therapists Kristi Wurth and Brittany Nunn recently passed the board exam to become CNTs.  There are only 14 CNTs in the state of Kentucky and only approximately 500 worldwide.

Wurth and Nunn join Courtney Shaw and Andrea Craven, who passed their CNT board exams in 2018.

“These ladies have studied and worked very hard to gain this level of expertise and certification,” said LeeAnn Morse, physical therapy director at Baptist Health Paducah. “We are pleased to be able to offer the next level of care to our infants, families and providers this certification represents.”

Neonatal therapists work with infants in the NICU to identify, treat and prevent developmental problems by creating an environment that stimulates and promotes healthy development and growth. The therapists work with infants on their sensory experiences such as what the infant sees, smells, tastes, feels and hears. Benefits of neonatal therapy include facilitating positive outcomes of high-risk infants, reducing co-morbidity related to NICU care and lowering costs of care.

A neonatal certification was created in 2016 to validate and standardize the necessary experience, education and knowledge to work in the NICU setting.

For more information about the John and Loree Eckstein Neonatal Intensive Care unit, visit BaptistHealth.com/Paducah.