(Madera, CA) - So delicate and so small, newborn babies have the most tender skin that commands our utmost attention, especially when they are under medical care. Babies in critical condition are connected to medical devices for monitoring, diagnosis and treatment.
According to Pediatric Quality and Safety, pressure injuries such as damaged skin, bedsores or ulcers induced by medical devices occur in 23 percent of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) patients. The most frequently used medical devices provide respiratory support to newborns, thus making respiratory-related pressure injuries more likely.
Our commitment to patient care is evident as Valley Children’s NICU has surpassed 1,000 days without any pressure injuries. This success is fostered by the NICU Task Force Team, comprised of a respiratory care educator, NICU clinical nurse specialists, a wound nurse and an ostomy nurse. Together, they enhanced the national recommendations and clinical training for injury prevention from Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety. With comprehensive knowledge of respiratory-related pressure injures, our team increased the recommended number of patient assessments and alternations of respiratory masks and prongs.
“It was a multidisciplinary collaboration between our wound nurse, the clinical team and NICU physicians to develop and implement an injury prevention protocol beyond national standards that is a true testament to our commitment to providing the best care to children in the Central Valley," says NICU Clinical Nurse Specialist Jennifer Norgaard. “It is a genuine privilege to collaborate with specialty experts who are driven by so much compassion for the vulnerable children we care for each day.”
Our work and enhanced protocols have been highlighted and shared with Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety, a national network with a focus on eliminating serious harm across all children's hospitals in the United States.