scholarly journals Exploring the Impact of Hurricane Maria on Parents and Health Care Personnel of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Puerto Rico

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-6
Author(s):  
Liza C. Sánchez-Plazas ◽  
Inés García-García ◽  
Lourdes García-Fragoso
2021 ◽  
pp. 097321792110512
Author(s):  
Suryaprakash Hedda ◽  
Shashidhar A. ◽  
Saudamini Nesargi ◽  
Kalyan Chakravarthy Balla ◽  
Prashantha Y. N. ◽  
...  

Background: Monitoring in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) largely relies on equipment which have a number of alarms that are often quite loud. This creates a noisy environment, and moreover leads to desensitization of health-care personnel, whereby potentially important alarms may also be ignored. The objective was to evaluate the effect of an educational package on alarm management (the number of alarms, response to alarms, and appropriateness of settings). Methods: A before and after study was conducted at a tertiary neonatal care center in a teaching hospital in India involving all health-care professionals (HCP) working in the high dependency unit. The intervention consisted of demo lectures about working of alarms and bedside demonstrations of customizing alarm limits. A pre- and postintervention questionnaire was also administered to assess knowledge and attitude toward alarms. The outcomes were the number and type of alarms, response time, appropriateness of HCP response, and appropriateness of alarm limits as observed across a 24-h period which were compared before and after the intervention. Findings: The intervention resulted in a significant decrease in the number of alarms (11.6-9.6/h). The number of times where appropriate alarm settings were used improved from 24.3% to 67.1% ( P < .001). The response time to alarm did not change significantly (225 s vs 200 s); however, the appropriate response to alarms improved significantly from 15.6% to 68.8%. Conclusion: A simple structured intervention can improve the appropriate management of alarms. Application to Practice: Customizing alarm limits and nursing education reduce the alarm burden in NICUs


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 604-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Ionio ◽  
Caterina Colombo ◽  
Valeria Brazzoduro ◽  
Eleonora Mascheroni ◽  
Emanuela Confalonieri ◽  
...  

Preterm birth is a stressful event for families. In particular, the unexpectedly early delivery may cause negative feelings in mothers and fathers. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between preterm birth, parental stress and negative feelings, and the environmental setting of NICU. 21 mothers (age = 36.00 ± 6.85) and 19 fathers (age = 34.92 ± 4.58) of preterm infants (GA = 30.96 ± 2.97) and 20 mothers (age = 40.08 ± 4.76) and 20 fathers (age = 40.32 ± 6.77) of full-term infants (GA = 39.19 ± 1.42) were involved. All parents filled out the Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Impact of Event Scale Revised, Profile of Mood States, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the Post-Partum Bonding Questionnaire. Our data showed differences in emotional reactions between preterm and full-term parents. Results also revealed significant differences between mothers and fathers’ responses to preterm birth in terms of stress, negative feelings, and perceptions of social support. A correlation between negative conditions at birth (e.g., birth weight and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit stay) and higher scores in some scales of Impact of Event Scale Revised, Profile of Mood States and Post-Partum Bonding Questionnaire were found. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit may be a stressful place both for mothers and fathers. It might be useful to plan, as soon as possible, interventions to help parents through the experience of the premature birth of their child and to begin an immediately adaptive mode of care.


2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tegan K. Boehmer ◽  
Wendy M. Bamberg ◽  
Tista S. Ghosh ◽  
Alicia Cronquist ◽  
Marie E. Fornof ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Quach ◽  
Aaron M. Milstone ◽  
Chantal Perpête ◽  
Mario Bonenfant ◽  
Dorothy L. Moore ◽  
...  

Background.Despite implementation of recommended best practices, our central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates remained high. Our objective was to describe the impact of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) bathing on CLABSI rates in neonates.Methods.Infants with a central venous catheter (CVC) admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit from April 2009 to March 2013 were included. Neonates with a birth weight of 1,000 g or less, aged less than 28 days, and those with a birth weight greater than 1,000 g were bathed with mild soap until March 31, 2012 (baseline), and with a 2% CHG-impregnated cloth starting on April 1, 2012 (intervention). Infants with a birth weight of 1,000 g or less, aged 28 days or more, were bathed with mild soap during the entire period. Neonatal intensive care unit nurses reported adverse events. Adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRRs), using Poisson regression, were calculated to compare CLABSIs/1,000 CVC-days during the baseline and intervention periods.Results.Overall, 790 neonates with CVCs were included in the study. CLABSI rates decreased during the intervention period for CHG-bathed neonates (6.00 vs 1.92/1,000 CVC-days; aIRR, 0.33 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.15-0.73]) but remained unchanged for neonates with a birth rate of 1,000 g or less and aged less than 28 days who were not eligible for CHG bathing (8.57 vs 8.62/1,000 CVC-days; aIRR, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.17-4.44]). Overall, 195 infants with a birth weight greater than 1,000 g and 24 infants with a birth weight of 1,000 g or less, aged 28 days or more, were bathed with CHG. There was no reported adverse event.Conclusions.We observed a decrease in CLABSI rates in CHG-bathed neonates in the absence of observed adverse events. CHG bathing should be considered if CLABSI rates remain high, despite the implementation of other recommended measures.


2000 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Holditch-Davis ◽  
Margaret Shandor Miles

The purpose of this article is to let mothers tell the stories of their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experiences and to determine how well these experiences fit the Preterm Parental Distress Model. Interviews were conducted with 31 mothers when their infants were six months of age corrected for prematurity and were analyzed using the conceptual model as a framework. The analysis verified the presence in the data of the six major sources of stress indicated in the Preterm Parental Distress Model: (1) pre-existing and concurrent personal and family factors, (2) prenatal and perinatal experiences, (3) infant illness, treatments, and appearance in the NICU, (4) concerns about the infant’s outcomes, (5) loss of the parental role, and (6) health care providers. The study indicates that health care providers, and especially nurses, can have a major role in reducing parental distress by maintaining ongoing communication with parents and providing competent care for their infants.


2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shih-Ming Chu ◽  
Mei-Chin Yang ◽  
Hsiu-Feng Hsiao ◽  
Jen-Fu Hsu ◽  
Reyin Lien ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of 1-week ventilator circuit change on ventilator-associated pneumonia and its cost-effectiveness compared with a 2-day change.DesignAn observational cohort study.SettingA tertiary level neonatal intensive care unit in a university-affiliated teaching hospital in Taiwan.PatientsAll neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit receiving invasive intubation for more than 1 week from July 1, 2011, through December 31, 2013.InterventionWe investigated the impact of 2 ventilator circuit change regimens, either every 2 days or 7 days, on ventilator-associated pneumonia of our cohort.Measurements and Main ResultsA total of 361 patients were maintained on mechanical ventilators for 13,981 days. The 2 groups did not differ significantly in any demographic characteristics. The rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was comparable between the 2-day group and the 7-day group (8.2 vs 9.5 per 1,000 ventilator-days, P=.439). The durations of mechanical ventilation and hospital stay, and rates of bloodstream infection and mortality, were also comparable between the 2 groups. Switching from a 2-day to a 7-day change policy would save our neonatal intensive care unit a yearly sum of US $29,350 and 525 working hours.ConclusionDecreasing the frequency of ventilator circuit changes from every 2 days to once per week is safe and cost-effective in neonates requiring prolonged intubation for more than 1 week.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2014;00(0): 1–7


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 755
Author(s):  
Laura Polloni ◽  
Francesco Cavallin ◽  
Elisabetta Lolli ◽  
Rossana Schiavo ◽  
Martina Bua ◽  
...  

The current SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a sudden major stressor superimposed on pre-existing high distress in parents of infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This study aimed to investigate the psychological wellbeing of NICU parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty-four parents of 25 inpatients of the Padua University Hospital NICU were included from June 2020 to February 2021. At 7–14 days postpartum parents completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Parental Stressor Scale: NICU (PSS:NICU) and an ad-hoc questionnaire measuring parental COVID-19 related stress. About one third of parents reported extreme/high stress and a relevant negative impact on parenthood experience. Less time (82%) and less physical contact (73%) with infants due to COVID-19 preventive measures were the most frequent negative factors. Higher COVID-19 related parental stress was positively associated with anxiety, depression, NICU parental stress, stress related to NICU environment, and parental role alterations. Depression symptoms, stress related to infant condition and parental role alterations were higher in mothers. The pandemic affected parental emotional and relational wellbeing directly through additional stress due to COVID-19 concerns and indirectly through the impact of restrictions on the experience of becoming parents.


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