Fewer tests for NICU babies improves outcomes

A NICU nurse manager and a neonatologist worked together to reduce the number of “pokes” fragile preterm babies get during their stay, Modern Healthcare reports. The project at Intermountain Healthcare’s Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, Utah was based on the realization that babies in the NICU often receive many blood draws and have central lines inserted and are also three times more likely to get a health care-associated infection than full-term babies.

Unit nurse manager Jeannette Cutner, RN, BSN, and neonatologist Erick Ridout, MD, began by monitoring all interventions and sharing that information with clinical staff, so each test and procedure was justified.

They also started morning huddles including clinical staff and parents, and had physicians speak last so they didn’t dominate decision making. The changes reduced infection rates and length of stay for preterm babies over the past 10 years, with just one baby experiencing a central line-associated bloodstream infection in that time.

The number of blood draws during a stay fell from about 75 to fewer than 40. They estimate the system has saved at least $2.8 million as a result. (Modern Healthcare story, 4/13/19)