Ace the 2025 Inpatient Obstetric Nurse Exam – Deliver Success with Confidence!

The recommended approach when encountering a non-reassuring fetal heart rate (FHR) is to monitor the FHR without immediate intervention as the first step. This strategy allows for ongoing assessment of the fetal status, providing valuable information about the situation's progression. In many cases, non-reassuring FHR patterns may resolve spontaneously with simple interventions, such as maternal repositioning or optimization of maternal perfusion, thus avoiding unnecessary stress or interventions.

Close monitoring enables healthcare providers to determine if the non-reassuring patterns persist or worsen, which could prompt further actions, such as fetal scalp stimulation or considering delivery options. While fetal scalp stimulation can be an appropriate response to assess the fetal response, it is typically not the first recommendation when initially identifying a non-reassuring FHR.

The option of initiating immediate emergency delivery is reserved for severe cases where fetal distress is critically indicated, and is not the standard first line of action in cases of non-reassuring FHR.

Considering different methods of monitoring the FHR could be beneficial in some scenarios, but the primary and most prudent approach following the initial identification of a non-reassuring fetal heart rate is to continue monitoring and gather more information before deciding on the next steps.