Supporting perinatal individuals with opioid use disorder and their newborns experiencing neonatal abstinence syndrome: impressions from patients and healthcare providers.

Background: Facilitating maternal-newborn involvement and care is critical for improving outcomes for perinatal individuals receiving opioid agonist therapy (OAT) and newborns experiencing Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). Comprehensive education strategies are needed to prepare pregnant individuals receiving OAT for navigating the perinatal period.Objectives: Identify facilitators to successful care of perinatal individuals receiving OAT and newborns experiencing NAS via interviews with perinatal individuals and healthcare providers. The goal of identifying this information is to inform a future educational tool development.Methods: Ten perinatal individuals receiving OAT and ten healthcare providers participated in interviews conducted via phone or video conference using semi-structured, open-ended questions. Data were analyzed separately for the two groups and later merged across samples using a qualitative descriptive content analysis approach to identify themes.Results: Under the overarching theme of empowerment to improve outcomes for perinatal women, four themes arose from perinatal and provider interviews: 1) Preparation for Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement, 2) Healthcare providers shape experience through stigma and support 3) Caring for newborns with NAS, and 4) Managing health and resources during postpartum.Conclusion: Perinatal participants emphasized the importance of self-advocacy while navigating healthcare and social systems. Providers highlighted the importance of communicating expectations to empower patients. Education is needed for pregnant individuals receiving OAT on what to expect during pregnancy and postpartum, as well as for providers to help them optimally support their perinatal patients receiving OAT.

Development and application of a primer and reference assessment tool for neonatal abstinence syndrome: A phase I pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Despite evidence for the efficacy of strict neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) treatment protocols, no national standardized education, diagnosis or treatment strategy is available. OBJECTIVES: To describe the development and preliminary usability of an electronic bedside primer and decision support tool for medical providers, with embedded, interactive education and reference modules. METHODS: A panel of NAS experts established a standard operating procedure for the best practices of NAS management and developed an interactive mobile primer and reference and assessment tool to assess NAS with a curriculum and decision support system. We tested the feasibility and usability of this tool with n = 8 users, including registered nurses, last-year undergraduate nursing students and neonatal physicians. RESULTS: Participants rated the usability of the modules positively, with an average rating of 4.5 (scale of "1 = Strongly disagree" to "5 = Strongly agree"). Participants appreciated the ability to score the infant at the bedside using real time electronic entry. Seven users noted that the electronic device entry would be as accurate as paper or computer-based Electronic Medical Records entry and one user indicated it would potentially be more accurate during post-usability interviews. Users recommended improvements to the curriculum, including increasing detail of definitions and adding videos for additional NAS signs. CONCLUSION: The assessment tool appears to be acceptable and usable by potential users. The strong ratings across users provides support for further testing whether its acceptability and usability remain high in a hospital setting, while assessing the impact on clinical outcomes such as newborn hospital length of stay.

Emergency management plan for newborn abduction.

Since 1983, 111 newborns have been abducted by strangers from hospitals in the United States. In Canada, five abductions from hospitals have been reported since 1990. Emergency management plans for newborn abduction must be in place in every institution that cares for newborns and seeks accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, which requires multidisciplinary planning of critical incident response procedures, staff education, mock newborn abductions, and evaluation of response during the mock incidents. Prevention strategies such as staff and parent education and physical environment security measures have led to a marked decrease of newborn abductions in the United States in the past 10 years.