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NICU

Nephrology

Initiative Aims to Reduce Fluid Overload in NICU Infants

A baby in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Stock photo)

A new effort led by Children’s of Alabama pediatric nephrologist Lindsey Gordon, D.O., is taking aim at fluid overload and its harmful offshoots—including acute kidney injury, prolonged ventilation and hospital stays—in hopes of smoothing the path for infants in the NICU toward a healthier future. The initiative, dubbed CAN-U-P-LOTS, encapsulates a 10-step clinical practice bundle that will be tested over the coming year in collaboration with Children’s NICU clinicians.

Babies in the NICU face many grave health challenges, not least of which is fluid overload from IV medications and nutrition intended to keep them alive and help them thrive.

“New evidence shows how fluid overload in these neonates can cause a lot of problems in the long run, and many times, this can lead to a poor outcome,” Gordon, a third year fellow at Children’s and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), explained. “We’re trying to recognize the problem early to prevent some of these negative outcomes.”

Elements of the CAN-U-P-LOTS practice bundle include:

C: Evaluating the cause of fluid overload
A: Assessing albumin level and replenishing as needed
N: Limiting nephrotoxic medications that can hurt the kidneys
U: Assessing and treating high levels of uric acid and using dialysis for ultra-filtration to remove extra fluid
P: Perfusion to the kidneys by increasing blood pressure to ensure adequate blood flow
L: Lasix stress test and attempting diuretic use to assess if the kidneys respond
O: Monitoring urine output/obstruction carefully and considering placing a Foley catheter or doing a renal ultrasound to ensure no blockage
T: Monitoring total fluid intake with an eye toward reducing fluid amounts without sacrificing nutrition
S: Considering steroid use if a patient is on several vasopressors to further support blood pressure

Some NICU neonates have risk factors that confer a high risk for fluid imbalance, including patients:

with sepsis or acute kidney injury
receiving multiple antibiotics
being prepared for major surgery
requiring blood pressure support with multiple medications

“Preliminary data suggest that the vast majority of neonates admitted to the Children’s of Alabama NICU meet the criteria at least once for fluid overload problems,” Gordon said.

The CAN-U-P-LOTS effort “will produce valuable data that will help us understand whether and how this practice bundle can be implemented on a widespread basis,” said David Askenazi, M.D., director of the Children’s Pediatric and Infant Center for Acute Nephrology (PICAN).

“The idea started with a collaborative approach to help standardize care of these children and educate providers in an effort to equip the NICU team with these systematic tools, so babies don’t ever have to develop fluid overload—the soggy lungs or wet heart that will keep them sicker longer,” Askenazi said. “It takes a village because a project like this takes multiple people, conversations and opportunities to learn from one another.”

“Our hunch is it’s going to work,” he added. “If we can show clinical improvements in these vulnerable babies, we can communicate this to our colleagues to help babies around the country and world. We’re giving them 10 things to think about that can help them maximize medical management before these babies need dialysis.”

August 25, 2023 by childrensal

Neonatology

BRAIN Protocol Reduces Brain Bleeds in Very Preterm Babies

Dr. Vivek Shukla is a neonatologist at Children’s of Alabama.

After implementing new measures to protect the brain health of preterm babies, a multidisciplinary team at Children’s of Alabama at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) saw promising results that suggest a new protocol could prevent brain bleeds in preterm neonates.

More and more infants born before 29 weeks, 6 days are surviving, bringing greater attention to their long-term outcomes, particularly their neurological health. In their first few weeks of life outside the womb, these babies have a high risk of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), a type of bleeding in the brain. To reduce the risk of IVH and other brain bleeds, Children’s of Alabama neonatologists Vivek Shukla, M.D., and Maran Ramani, M.D., led a multidisciplinary team from the level IV regional neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the development of a quality-improvement and management program for infants at high risk of IVH or other neurological complications. The team implemented the program, called BRAIN, in April 2018 with the goal of improving long-term neurological outcomes for these babies.

The interventions begin at birth and continue through the first week of life, which is considered the highest-risk period for IVH and other brain bleeds. Components of BRAIN include:

Using more sophisticated monitoring such as near-infrared spectroscopy
Protocolizing routine medication use within six hours of birth for most of babies—such as initiating IV indomethacin prophylaxis, which can reduce the risk of IVH—and limiting the use of saline boluses and bicarbonate
Reducing noise levels by carefully handling equipment and the incubator, minimizing incubator

door opening, reducing the intensity of alarms and promptly responding to them, avoiding conversations at the bedside as much as possible and using a soft voice if needed.

Standardizing infant positioning with an elevated head of the bed, avoiding putting the baby flat on the bed and getting help when turning the baby to ensure a neutral head position.

Of 127 babies tracked after implementing the neuroprotective protocol, none experienced a brain bleed or early death in the first week of life compared to 11 out of 99 (11%) prior to the intervention. The results were published in the Journal of Perinatology in July 2022. The work isn’t finished, however, with several additional approaches planned, including using machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify features that predict worse outcomes.

“All the congratulations go to my wonderful team, my wonderful mentors and my excellent colleagues here,” Shukla said. “This is not a single-person show. A lot needs to be done to ensure that preterm infants reach their best potential development.”

January 16, 2023 by childrensal

Neonatology

New Research May Lead to Changes in the Care of Nano-preterm Infants

Researchers at Children’s of Alabama are studying the best ways to care for some of the smallest neonates.

Preliminary research conducted by neonatologists at Children’s of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) could pave the way for new standards of care for extremely preterm babies.

Today, some babies with a gestational age between 22 weeks and 23 weeks, 6 days (previously considered inviable) may survive. However, very little is known about what increases the likelihood of survival and reduces the risk of long-term complications in these babies. In fact, until Children’s of Alabama and UAB neonatologists published a large series showing feasibility and outcome differences in infants who receive invasive and non-invasive respiratory support at birth, there wasn’t even a formal nomenclature for them.

“We coined the term ‘nano-preterm,’” Children’s of Alabama neonatologist Vivek Shukla, M.D., said. He is the lead author of a paper published in the journal JAMA Network that provides some of the first data on the best way to manage these neonates just after birth. UAB neonatologist Charitharth Vivek Lal, M.D., is also the senior author of the paper.

Non-invasive respiratory support at birth—rather than immediate intubation and delivery of lung surfactant—has been shown to improve short-term respiratory outcomes in extremely premature infants, defined as those born at gestational age 24 weeks to 27 weeks, 6 days. But it was assumed that non-invasive respiratory support was not feasible in those born between 22 weeks and 23 weeks, 6 days (now known as nano-preterm infants). The problem was that it had not been studied.

Shukla, Lal and their co-authors reviewed data on 230 nano-preterm infants treated at UAB’s level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) between January 2014 and June 2021 to see if non-invasive respiratory support was best for these babies. Eighty-eight of the infants (whose average weight was 1 pound, 4.4 ounces) received non-invasive respiratory support in the first 10 minutes after birth; the rest (whose average weight was 1 pound, 2.4 ounces) received invasive respiratory support.

There was no difference in the combined primary outcomes of death or the complication of bronchopulmonary dysplasia at 36 weeks postmenstrual age between the two groups, but there was a higher risk of severe brain hemorrhageand deathin those who received non-invasive respiratory support. Shukla and Lal are planning a large, multicenter study to confirm the findings and provide data needed for professional societies to develop guidelines of care for nano-preterm infants.

“This could be practice-changing,” Shukla said. “It is also particularly important data given the increasing number of nano-premature babies who are surviving today.”

January 16, 2023 by childrensal

Neonatology

Initiative Aims to Send Low Birthweight Babies Home on Human Milk

Dr. Allison Black is a neonatologist at Children’s of Alabama.

Children’s of Alabama neonatologist Allison Black, M.D., is spearheading a project with the Children’s Hospital Neonatal Consortium to improve the percentage of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) receiving human milk at 120 days of life or at discharge. More than 30 of the best level IV NICUs throughout the country are participating in the Project HOME (Home On Milk Every time) quality improvement project and sharing best practices to increase their success rates.

Breast milk has a host of benefits for babies, but for very low birthweight (VLBW) babies in the NICU, it can be lifesaving. The unique composition of human milk can reduce morbidity and mortality while conveying long-term cognitive and behavioral benefits.[1] Human milk that comes from an infant’s own mother is ideal because it includes antibodies to fight infection and a composition specific for each baby. But even donated breast milk can be beneficial. Despite these benefits, only about half of VLBW infants throughout the U.S. are discharged home on human milk. That rate is even lower among babies born in the South.[2]

The Project HOME initiative is built on research showing that a multidisciplinary approach is the most successful way to increase rates of human-milk feeding. “It’s not just one team member who makes a difference,” Black said. “Every caretaker who encounters patients and their families should provide the same messaging and education about the importance of human-milk feeding. We need to ensure that every staff member has the resources and knowledge to give this support to our families.” To that end, Black is assembling a team of NICU providers including bedside nurses, lactation consultants, speech and occupational therapists, nursing educators and even a mother of a NICU baby to identify and address barriers to providing the support needed for human-milk feeding.

The message is that human milk is a medicine that only you can provide for your baby.

One major barrier to getting mothers’ milk to babies at Children’s of Alabama is that the babies are born at hospitals throughout the state, some more than 100 miles away, then moved to Children’s via critical care transport teams. “We don’t see the mother until she’s discharged,” Black said, “and many times she’s too ill to speak by phone.” Yet studies find that expressing milk within the first six to 12 hours after delivery is associated with the highest success rates for initiating human-milk feedings.

Black says the transfer challenge requires them to think outside the box, such as including referring centers and the transport team in efforts to provide education about human-milk feeding before mothers arrive at Children’s.

“Another huge barrier is the physical and emotional distance a mother feels when her child has to be transferred to another facility,” Black said. This separation combined with the fact that many mothers are ill themselves can make it quite challenging for mothers to provide milk. Other barriers include access to electric pumps, support from someone who is knowledgeable about the benefits of human milk and a family and community support system. “These challenges continue as mothers have huge amounts of physical and emotional stress when their babies have prolonged hospitalizations, not to mention the different logistical challenges for mothers providing milk when they are back in the workplace and dealing with life outside of the NICU,” she said.

But Black sees numerous opportunities to overcome these obstacles, including educating mothers while they’re still in the hospital; outreach to high-referral centers to begin the education pre-delivery; giving brochures to families as early as possible; and forming a community support system.

While Black says the percentage of pre-term babies at Children’s who are still on human milk at 120 days or discharge is higher than the national average, she believes there is still room for improvement. She’d like to see the rate increased by at least 10 percent and is confident they’ll meet that goal. “All members of our team are passionate about working together to improve the care of our patients.”

[1] Vohr BR, Poindexter BB, Dusick AM, et al. Beneficial effects of breast milk in the neonatal intensive care unit on the developmental outcome of extremely low birth weight infants at 18 months of age. Pediatrics. 2006;118(1):e115-e123. doi:10.1542/peds.2005-2382

[2] Parker MG, Greenberg LT, Edwards EM, Ehret D, Belfort MB, Horbar JD. National Trends in the Provision of Human Milk at Hospital Discharge Among Very Low-Birth-Weight Infants. JAMA Pediatr. 2019;173(10):961–968. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.2645

January 16, 2023 by childrensal

Inside Pediatrics, Neonatology

Bringing Evidence to Bear in the Use of Perioperative Antibiotics

Ninety percent of patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Children’s of Alabama will undergo a surgical procedure during their admission, putting them at risk of infections and other complications. Thus, the NICU team has been implementing performance improvement initiatives to improve outcomes, including focusing on pain control and standardizing handoffs before and after surgery.

The most recent initiative targets perioperative antibiotic use. “The vast majority of surgical patients will require some type of antibiotic during the perioperative period,” said neonatologist Allison Black, M.D., “and we noticed there wasn’t any standard as to the dose or type of antibiotics used for each procedure.”

That’s a problem, she said, because prolonged use of broad-spectrum antibiotics may be harmful. “It changes the infant’s gut flora, increases the risk for antibiotic-resistant infections, and may have toxicities,” she said.

Thus, the NICU team, including physicians, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists, collaborated with the general surgeons and each surgical subspecialty to devise a solution. The surgeons collected evidence and then recommended an antibiotic as well as its dose and duration based on the specific procedure. The team used these recommendations and the evidence supporting them to create the NICU Perioperative Antibiotic Prophylaxis guidelines.

“Now, unless there is a specific reason, all perioperative antibiotics are ordered based on these guidelines, and surgeons follow the protocol,” Dr. Black said. “It’s like clockwork.” The result is less use of prolonged empiric antibiotics and less confusion over which to use. Another advantage is less exposure to nephrotoxic drugs that can lead to acute kidney injury, she said.

The unit’s two pharmacists ensure the protocol is followed. “Initially, it was difficult to break our decades-long habit of asking the surgeons which antibiotic they preferred and for how long after each surgical case,” said clinical pharmacist Sadie Stone, PharmD. “With the perioperative guidelines in place, we can initiate an evidence-based regimen quickly for our most common surgical procedures.”

Since instituting the guidelines, the pharmacists have been collecting data and tracking guideline compliance. “We discuss each surgical plan with the nurse practitioner based on the guidelines when the patient returns from surgery,” said clinical pharmacist Emily Evans, PharmD. Each case is then retrospectively reviewed to determine if the procedure has an antimicrobial course included in the guidelines. If so, the actual antimicrobial course is screened against the guidelines for adherence. “These guidelines have expanded our antimicrobial stewardship role in the NICU,” she said.

“The hope is that reduction in the use of antibiotics will decrease the need for central lines, which, in turn, also reduces the risk of infections and associated complications,” said Dr. Black. The team also tracks post-operative infection rates to ensure there is no increase.

“This initiative again shows the improvement possible with multidisciplinary collaboration,” she said.

August 27, 2021 by childrensal

Inside Pediatrics, Neonatology

Using Quality Improvement to Improve Maternal/Child Health

Children’s of Alabama neonatologist Samuel Gentle, M.D.

Children’s of Alabama neonatologist Samuel Gentle, M.D., is passionate about the tiny babies he treats—and passionate in his belief that healthcare professionals like him can always do better. That’s why he helped start the Alabama Perinatal Quality Collaborative (ALPQC), a statewide initiative devoted to improving the quality of care for women and children. “Quality improvement is something I’ve been intrinsically drawn to,” he said. “I love the application of data science to a healthcare setting, allowing a confluence of providers to demonstrably show their efforts have impacted a patient population.”

The collaborative’s first project in 2018 was improving birth certificate accuracy. This might sound small, but accurate vital statistics and birth data are critical ingredients to monitor population health—particularly that of women and children—solve public health problems at the local, state and federal levels; and make wise decisions about where to spend limited dollars.

When the initiative started, just 70 percent of the 25 participating hospitals were submitting accurate birth certificates based on 11 key variables, with low reporting accuracy for individual variables such as antenatal corticosteroids, birth weight and maternal hypertension. After this quality improvement initiative, 95 percent of enrolled hospitals were submitting accurate birth certificates.

The pandemic hit before the collaborative could launch its next project. Instead of shutting down, however, “we pivoted,” Dr. Gentle said, hosting webinars about COVID-19 and maternal and child health to share best practices from other hospitals and to “continue to evolve and learn from each other.”

Finally, with the country returning to some version of normal, the ALPQC was ready to move on to one of its next projects: neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS). “Alabama saw a 20 percent increase in overdose deaths in 2020 compared to 2019,” Dr. Gentle said. “This is a critical time to address many of the aims set forth by this initiative.” In 2016, NOWS affected 6.7 per 1,000 in-hospital births with overall hospitalization costs of $572.7 million.¹ In Alabama that year, nearly 600 infants covered by Medicaid were diagnosed with NOWS, an increase of nearly 100 percent from 2010.

Using the Institute of Health Improvement’s model for improving quality, the initiative focuses on developing and instituting standardized practices around NOWS, including reducing stigma, increasing the use of non-pharmacologic care, and providing structural support for mothers, including addiction services and medication for opioid use disorder.

“The global aim is to optimize care for mothers and their newborns with NOWS,” Dr. Gentle said. More specifically, the ALPQC hopes to reduce length of stay and exposure to pharmacologic treatments by 20 percent; and ensure that 95 percent of families are discharged with a collaborative plan linking them to community services. The project will run in conjunction with a third ALPQC initiative to decrease rates of severe maternal morbidity associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. The collaborative hopes to have results by the end of the year.

Although the ALPQC is still gathering data, at least one hospital cut the length of stay in half for infants with NOWS, Dr. Gentle said.

The success of such statewide improvement requires a broad group of stakeholders, he said. “This work would not be possible without our partnerships,” he added, which include the Alabama Hospital Association, the Alabama Department of Public Health and payers. He also highlighted ALPQC Program Director Evelyn Coronado-Guillaumet’s leadership, as well as the consortium of hospitals’ continued engagement. “The hospitals’ shared experience certainly accelerates the work,” he said.

Asked what’s next on the agenda, Dr. Gentle said telecommunication-based training for neonatal resuscitation.

¹ Strahan AE, Guy GP, Bohm M, Frey M, Ko JY. Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Incidence and Health Care Costs in the United States, 2016. JAMA Pediatr. 2020;174(2):200–202.

August 27, 2021 by childrensal

Inside Pediatrics, Neonatology

Focus on Feeding in the NICU

Infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are at huge risk of problems with oral feeding, potentially requiring surgical intervention if they can’t take in the nutrition required for growth and healing.

Historically, specialized occupational therapists evaluated and treated babies who had feeding issues at Children’s of Alabama. But today, they are joined by specialized speech therapists.

“The addition of speech therapists with special interest in NICU patients gave us an additional caretaker with a different background and skill set,” said neonatologist Allison Black, M.D. “We took advantage of both disciplines and their specialized, yet different, training and teamed them to create the infant feeding team.”

“The teamwork begins during the evaluation process, even performing some of the tests such as swallowing studies and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluations of swallowing together,” Dr. Black said. Having two therapists work together for these studies is a bonus, said Christy Moran, an occupational therapist who works on the feeding team.

For instance, she said, it is quite challenging to perform a modified barium swallow on an infant. With two therapists, however, one positions the infant and serves as feeder, incorporating the techniques used to support oral feeding. The other therapist prepares the barium and watches the screen. “It is a much better study with two therapists working together, so each can focus completely on their part instead of splitting their attention between one or the other,” Moran said.

The therapists then collaborate to form a feeding and therapy plan, which they share with the rest of the NICU team. The approach continues until the patient is discharged home.

“The patient benefits because they get evaluated by different people at different times, both of whom are experts at feeding infants,” Dr. Black said. “This helps us get a clearer overall picture of what the infant is truly capable of since a baby’s interest in feeding can depend on the time of day and multiple other factors, all of which are constantly changing in the NICU.”

Working as a team also enables greater support for families and caretakers, said speech-language pathologist Allie Gilbert. “Since we work so closely together, there is a rhythm to our discharge sessions,” she said, “and parents seem to appreciate having both disciplines reinforcing the same recommendations.”

Dr. Black is now collecting data on the impact the team has on infant feeding. Anecdotally, however, she said she’s seen greater success at getting babies to take oral feeds more quickly since implementing the team concept.

August 27, 2021 by childrensal

Inside Pediatrics, Neonatology

Generous Donation to NeuroNICU B.R.A.I.N. Program Helps Reduce Risk of Brain Injury in Premature Infants

Through a generous donation by Robert and Kathleen Israel, Children’s of Alabama is now home to new technology that helps dramatically prevent brain injury and improve brain development and function in its sickest patients.

Children’s of Alabama is thrilled to announce a very generous gift of a cutting-edge technology designed to help reduce the risk of brain injury in preterm infants. The gift was donated by Robert and Kathleen Israel in honor of the care their daughter, Ivy, received in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in 2018. Ivy is home and doing very well. “The NICU team at Children’s of Alabama saved our daughter’s life,” said Robert Israel, “and we are forever grateful.”

“This new technology made possible by the Israel family is helping us dramatically prevent brain injury and improve brain development and function in our sickest patients,” said Manimaran Ramani, M.D., director of the NeuroNICU program.

Preterm infants born at 30 weeks or earlier are at higher risk for developing intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), which is associated with long-term neurocognitive and motor deficits. The risk for neurocognitive and motor deficits is also higher for term infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), seizures, metabolic disorders, or stroke, and those undergoing ECMO therapy.

However, a multidisciplinary initiative in the NICU at Children’s of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) called NeuroNICU B.R.A.I.N. (Brain Rescue and Avoidance of Injury in Neonates) aims to prevent and reduce neurocognitive and motor deficits in high-risk neonates.

The objective of the B.R.A.I.N. program is to identify and prevent brain injury early in high-risk neonates through state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques and neuroprotective care. An interdisciplinary team of medical professionals meets every week to strategize individualized comprehensive neuroprotective plans for infants enrolled in B.R.A.I.N.

Though standard vital monitoring techniques used in NICUs such as blood pressure, heart rate and pulse oximetry provide valuable information about the infant’s hemodynamic status, such standard monitoring techniques don’t provide real-time information regarding the brain’s oxygenation saturation, oxygenation extraction and perfusion status of a sick neonate.

This is where infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) monitoring comes in. “This technology allows us to monitor cerebral oxygenation in very sick infants,” Ramani said. It is a non-invasive method that can be used continually at the bedside as well as during surgery to monitor the health of the brain. It can also be combined with amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) to monitor cerebral electrical activity and to diagnose seizures in sick neonates in real-time.

“With the two NIRS devices donated by the Israel family, we are now able to monitor the brain health and adjust our therapies and strategies in real-time on our patients,” Ramani said.

January 16, 2020 by childrensal

Inside Pediatrics, Neonatology

Debriefing after Resuscitation: A Quality Improvement Initiative

In October 2018, the Children’s of Alabama Neonatal Intensive Care Unit embarked on a quality improvement project, Debriefing Following Resuscitation/Code Events in the NICU, to identify opportunities to improve the resuscitation process, including staff satisfaction. It is one of several quality initiatives led by the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) can be an intimidating and stressful place to work. One of the most stressful events in the NICU is a neonatal code or resuscitation, which may require intubation, chest compressions and special medications, all delivered under the pressure of knowing that seconds count. This requires that the team of doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists and other practitioners work together like a well-oiled machine.

Resuscitation codes are, by definition, rare events, said Children’s of Alabama neonatologist Hannah Hightower, M.D. Weeks may go by without any and then they might have several in one month. But they are definitely disruptive and stressful.

In October 2018, the Children’s of Alabama NICU embarked on a quality improvement project, Debriefing Following Resuscitation/Code Events in the NICU, to identify opportunities to improve the resuscitation process, including staff satisfaction. It is one of several quality initiatives led by the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium (CHNC), a group of more than 30 children’s hospitals around the country dedicated to using performance improvement methods to improve the delivery and quality of care in Level IV NICUs, which care for high acuity and medically complicated neonates.

The premise is simple. As soon as possible after the code, everyone gathers for a few minutes to discuss what went well, any equipment or medication problems, communication quality, and, of course, highlighting what could go better next time. They also complete a short form documenting the discussion. In just three months, the team at Children’s exceeded its goal of holding post-resuscitation debriefings after 80 percent of codes.

Such approaches can lead to improved resuscitation quality and reduced mortality, research finds. [1]

“The goal is to help everyone involved in the process improve skills, cope with the stress, and ultimately and most importantly, improve the process and patient outcomes by identifying potential latent safety threats,” Hightower said. “We want everyone on the team to feel free to express any concerns as well as provide support. Even the caregivers need a chance to decompress.” “Not only does it provide a venue for raising issues related to caring for the patient, she said, “but it also lets us show appreciation for the things that went well.”

“It wasn’t a surprise to hear that one of the biggest issues is communication in a stressful period,” Hightower said. “We can always improve communication, whether that means discussing who is leading the code or controlling the volume so everyone can hear and understand what’s going on.” Discussing communication issues shortly after the code is important, she said, “because it’s at the front of your mind. By doing this immediately, you remember things you may not later and can articulate issues that might not be apparent in a week or two.”

Since implementing the initiative, the team has begun a proposal to further improve communication by emphasizing who is leading the code. Future projects include providing each member a way to give real time feedback not just to the code event, but also to the quality and effectiveness of the debrief. “We want to quickly identify systemic matters that can be improved for the next event. This is to develop a culture of freely expressing ideas and working through issues together as a team,” Hightower said.

The team is still collecting data on the primary outcome of latent safety events, a key component of any quality improvement initiative. Secondary outcomes include quality of the debriefs and composition of the responding code team.

“I credit our success to our strong nursing leadership and the willingness of the staff to be actively involved in quality improvement and do the extra work required to accomplish that goal,” Hightower said. “They have to step away from the patient and cover for each other during the debrief and even though it may take just a few minutes, to ask a nurse to step away from the patient is a big task.”

Although the team is still collecting data on the impact on staff satisfaction, she said, “anecdotally we have heard from nurses and other staff who feel they had a chance to say what they needed during the code or might need in the future. That’s gotten positive feedback.”

“It’s important to highlight the goal of this project is improved patient care, patient outcomes and staff satisfaction,” Hightower said. It’s also important that Children’s of Alabama is a part of a national collaborative with other major children’s hospitals, she said, and has been one of the most successful programs in the CHNC in terms of demonstrated outcomes. Other performance improvement initiatives with the CHNC include improving pain management and reducing nephrotoxic injury.

In just three months after embarking on its quality improvement project, the NICU team at Children’s of Alabama exceeded its goal of holding post-resuscitation debriefings after 80 percent of codes.

[1] Wolfe H, Zebuhr C, Topjian AA, et al. Interdisciplinary ICU Cardiac Arrest Debriefing Improves Survival Outcomes Crit Care Med. 2014 Jul; 42(7): 1688–1695.

January 16, 2020 by childrensal

Neonatology

Initiative Targets Pain Management in NICU Babies

Adults and children can tell you when they’re in pain. Infants can’t. Which is why Children’s of Alabama is participating in a national quality improvement initiative called Erase Post-Op Pain designed to reduce pain after invasive procedures. The initiative is part of the Children’s Hospital Neonatal Consortium (CHNC), an international group of children’s hospitals dedicated to improving care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

“There is really no ‘gold standard’ for pain assessment in preverbal children,” said NICU Associate Medical Director Allison Black, M.D. “Nor is there much data on the best way to treat pain in neonates.” However, there is data showing that preterm babies who experience repeated pain can develop physiologic instability, altered brain development and abnormal stress response systems that persists into childhood. “The immature brain can potentially have a more diffuse and exaggerated response to pain,” she said.

The Erase initiative is designed to apply a multidisciplinary approach, including physicians, bedside nurses, pharmacologists, and even parents, to implement a standardized method to assess, document and manage postoperative pain.

The first action the team took was to adopt a single objective pain assessment tool, the N-PASS score, which measures sedation and pain based on vital signs such as heart rate and breathing, as well as behavior such as agitation, crying, facial expressions and neurologic resting tone. “These are things parents can help us assess as well,” Black said. Parents will also complete a survey after each procedure about how well they thought their baby’s pain was assessed and controlled.

The NICU pharmacist worked closely with other team members to develop different guidelines and different algorithms of what medications to use for each specific patient. Each guideline is unique, and the algorithm used depends upon the invasiveness of the procedure, whether the patient has had similar drugs in the past and if they are breathing spontaneously or with the help of assisted ventilation.

“By considering the history of the patient, the type of procedure performed. and looking closely at each drug’s time to onset and duration of action, the treatment should be more effective,” Black said.

The initiative dovetails nicely with another CHNC performance improvement project, the STEPP-IN initiative. STEPP-IN works to reduce perioperative stress and instability in NICU patients through improved handoffs and communication. “I think the projects will compliment each another and help improve our overall care of these small infants during the high-risk perioperative period,” Black said.

Babies in Need

Learn more about the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children’s of Alabama.

August 20, 2019 by childrensal

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