Current Roles and Continuing Needs of Speech-Language Pathologists Working in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

This study surveyed 45 speech-language pathologists working with infants who are medically fragile in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across the United States. It explored current roles in the NICU setting, considering such issues as factors affecting, and support available for, NICU involvement, assessment and intervention goals and procedures, educational activities conducted, and training levels and needs. Results demonstrated that speech-language pathologists have begun establishing a multifaceted role in the NICU setting, including providing assessments and intervention focused on feeding and communication interaction, and education to medical professionals, team members, and parents. These findings should be valuable to other speech-language pathologists currently considering NICU involvement. They should also be helpful to university training programs that are planning to develop coursework and practicum experiences to meet the needs of this newly emerging role.

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Variation in Performance of Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the United States

JAMA Pediatrics ◽

10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.4396 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 171 (3) ◽

pp. e164396 ◽

Cited By ~ 120

Author(s):

Jeffrey D. Horbar ◽

Erika M. Edwards ◽

Lucy T. Greenberg ◽

Kate A. Morrow ◽

Roger F. Soll ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Intensive Care Units ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

The United States ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care Units

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Nurse Staffing in Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the United States

Research in Nursing & Health ◽

10.1002/nur.21674 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 38 (5) ◽

pp. 333-341 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Jeannette A. Rogowski ◽

Douglas O. Staiger ◽

Thelma E. Patrick ◽

Jeffrey D. Horbar ◽

Michael J. Kenny ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Intensive Care Units ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Nurse Staffing ◽

The United States ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care Units

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Screening for Retinopathy of Prematurity—A Problem Solved?

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.95.5.755 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 95 (5) ◽

pp. 755-757

Author(s):

John T. Flynn ◽

Augusto Sola ◽

William V. Good ◽

Roderic H. Phibbs

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Birth Weight ◽

Intensive Care Units ◽

Retinopathy Of Prematurity ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

The United States ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care Units ◽

Premature Births ◽

Indirect Ophthalmoscopy

In the United States there are about 4 million births annually,1 of which about 10% are premature. The percentage of premature births has increased over the last decade2 and every year there are >20 000 infants whose birth weight is 1250 g or under who survive beyond 28 days of life.3 An additional 32 000 surviving infants weigh between 1251 and 1500 g at birth. Both birth weight strata contain, by all that we know about the disease, infants at the highest risk for the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). If infants of these birth weights are to be examined by ophthalmologists competent to perform indirect ophthalmoscopy on these tiny prematures, an average of 6 times during the period of highest susceptibility for the development of threshold ROP4 disease—32 to 40 weeks postconceptional age5,6—then we are talking about ±300 000 such examinations per year in the neonatal intensive care units across this country.

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Variation in antibiotic use among neonatal intensive care units in the United States

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology ◽

10.1017/ice.2021.379 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-3

Author(s):

Hillary J.J. Spencer ◽

Keerti L. Dantuluri ◽

Cary Thurm ◽

Hannah Griffith ◽

Carlos G. Grijalva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intensive Care ◽

Intensive Care Units ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Geographic Location ◽

Antibiotic Use ◽

The United States ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care Units ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Use Patterns ◽

Sectional Analysis

Abstract Antibiotics are widely used in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of antibiotic use across US NICUs to evaluate overall, broad-spectrum, and combination antibiotic use. Patterns of antibiotic use varied by medical versus surgical service line, hospital, and geographic location.

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Survey of Ventilation Practices in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units of the United States and Canada: Use of Volume-Targeted Ventilation and Barriers to Its Use

American Journal of Perinatology ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1669442 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (05) ◽

pp. 484-489 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ashish Gupta ◽

Martin Keszler

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Intensive Care Units ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Online Survey ◽

The United States ◽

Current Data ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care Units ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Clinical Scenarios

Objective To provide current data on ventilation practices and use of volume-targeted ventilation (VTV) in neonatal intensive care units of the United States and Canada, to identify the perceived barriers to the implementation of VTV, and to assess the knowledge base of appropriate initial tidal volume (VT ) settings for different hypothetical clinical scenarios. Study Design This was a cross-sectional online survey of individual neonatologists practicing in the United States and Canada. Results We received 387 responses (estimated response rate: ∼20%). Use of VTV was much higher in Canada (81%) compared with 39% in the United States. In the United States, VTV use is highest in the Northwest at 77% and lowest in the Northeast at 32.5%. The chief barrier to use of VTV was lack of knowledge about VTV and lack of appropriate equipment. The five clinical scenarios revealed that the majority of responders failed to select appropriate evidence-based VT for the specific scenario. Conclusion Pressure-controlled ventilation remains the predominant approach to neonatal ventilation in the United States, while VTV is the preferred mode in Canada. Despite available data and important pathophysiological differences between patients, there is insufficient understanding of how to choose an appropriate VT in a variety of common clinical scenarios among users of VTV.

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Utilization of Erythropoietin within the United States Neonatal Intensive Care Units from 2008 to 2017

American Journal of Perinatology ◽

10.1055/s-0039-3400981 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Kaashif A. Ahmad ◽

Monica M. Bennett ◽

Sandra E. Juul ◽

Robin K. Ohls ◽

Reese H. Clark ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intensive Care ◽

Data Warehouse ◽

Intensive Care Units ◽

Retrospective Cohort ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

The United States ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care Units ◽

Clinical Data Warehouse ◽

Utilization Patterns ◽

Ischemic Encephalopathy

Abstract Objective Little data are available regarding erythropoietin (Epo) utilization patterns within neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). We sought to describe the trends in Epo utilization across a large cohort of U.S. NICUs. Study Design This is a retrospective cohort study of infants discharged from 2008 to 2017 using the Pediatrix Clinical Data Warehouse. Results We identified 704,159 eligible infants from 358 sites, of whom 9,749 (1.4%) had Epo exposure. For extremely low gestational age newborns (ELGANs), Epo exposure ranged from 7.6 to 13.5%. We found significant site variability in Epo utilization in ELGANs. Among the 299 NICUs caring for ELGANs during the study period, 184 (61.5%) never used Epo for this population, whereas 21 (7%) utilized Epo in 50% or more of eligible infants. Epo was initiated at a median of 25 days in ELGANs. For infants with hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), Epo exposure remained ≤1% through 2014 then increased fourfold to 3.4% by 2017. The median day of Epo initiation was the day of birth for infants diagnosed with HIE. Conclusion Epo is utilized in ELGANs more commonly than for other NICU populations. Utilization patterns appear to indicate the treatment of established anemia for ELGANs and more recently for neuroprotection in patients diagnosed with HIE.

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