This toolkit is designed to help NICU staff and families create successful family advisory councils (FACs) in their units, whether starting from scratch or working to enhance an existing council. Drawing from both research and lived experience, this resource bridges theory and practice in family engagement.
The Primary Care for Infants & Children Toolkit:
The rate of Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS), also known as Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), has been increasing over the past decade nationally. The aim of this toolkit is to provide healthcare staff with a straightforward manual of care that they can use as a reference to manage infants with NOWS. This may be particularly useful when infants with NOWS are not commonly managed at their institution. Our hope is that by providing easy to use evidence-based guidelines, the quality and equity of care for infants with NOWS will improve.
Research shows disparities in infant outcomes for families with a non-English language of preference (NELP). The NELP Resource Bundle includes action-oriented, evidence-based, or evidence-derived change ideas that NICU team members can implement to improve outcomes for families with a non-English language of preference and advance health equity.
View the webinar recording from January 31, 2023.
Over the past 20 years, through efforts of single and multi-center NICU quality improvement (QI) projects and collectively through state collaboratives, the rates of central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs) and, subsequently, hospital-acquired infections (HAI), in the NICU have been reduced. Despite these improvements, HAI remains a persistent challenge in the NICU, resulting in increased length of stay, morbidity and mortality, and increased hospital costs. Very low birthweight (VLBW) infants hospitalized in the NICU are at an increased risk for HAI.
Neonatal patients have unique needs that distinguish them from most other hospitalized patients. Infants in the NICU are highly dependent on hospital staff for all aspects of their care. Many are critically ill and are heavily dependent on advanced technology for their survival. Any number of disasters has the potential to impact a NICU’s ability to care for their patients.
Therapeutic hypothermia, when initiated within six hours of birth, has been shown to significantly improve survival and neurodevelopmental outcomes in neonates with moderate to severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). However, not every baby who might benefit from cooling therapy is identified or referred to a regional cooling center in a timely fashion. Early identification of the risk factors for perinatally-acquired asphyxia and recognition of the signs and symptoms of neonatal encephalopathy are challenging even for the most experienced neonatologists.
The Perinatal HIV toolkit summarizes the current recommendations of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Panel on Treatment of HIV-infected Pregnant Women and Prevention of Perinatal Transmission (a working group of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council). The toolkit is designed to assist healthcare providers in providing HIV information and prenatal testing and care to pregnant women.
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