Improving Use of Antibiotics for Pediatric Pneumonia in Community Hospital Emergency Departments.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The majority of pediatric patients present to community-hospital emergency departments (EDs). Pneumonia is among the most common reasons for ED visits; however, prescribing narrow-spectrum antibiotics occurs at rates below established best practices. We sought to increase prescription of narrow-spectrum antibiotics for pediatric pneumonia in 5 community hospital EDs using an interdisciplinary learning collaborative. We aimed to increase use of narrow spectrum antibiotics from 60% to 80% by December 2018. METHODS: A collaborative of 5 community hospitals developed quality improvement teams who held quarterly meetings over a 1 year period engaging teams in Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles. Interventions included deployment of an evidenced based guideline, educational interventions, and order set modification. Preintervention data were collected for 12 months. Using a standardized data form, teams collected monthly data during the intervention period and for an additional year after to assess for sustainability. Teams evaluated data using statistical process control charts and included any patient 3 months to 18 years with a diagnosis of pneumonia. RESULTS: The aggregated rate of narrow-spectrum antibiotic prescriptions increased from 60% during the baseline period to 78% during the intervention period. During the year after active implementation, this aggregate rate increased to 92%. Differences in prescribing patterns were noted by provider type, but narrow-spectrum antibiotic use improved for both general emergency medicine and pediatric providers. No return visits to the ED for failure of antibiotic treatment within 72 hours occurred. CONCLUSIONS: An interdisciplinary community hospital learning collaborative increased prescribing narrow-spectrum antibiotics by both general and pediatric ED providers.

Randomized Trial of Weight-Based Versus Fixed Limit High-Flow Nasal Cannula in Bronchiolitis.

BACKGROUND: High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is increasingly used to treat bronchiolitis. Although lower HFNC rates (≤8 L per minute) are commonly employed, higher weight-based flows more effectively alleviate dyspnea. The impact of higher flows on the need for care escalation is unclear. METHODS: A randomized clinical trial was performed in a community hospital inpatient pediatric unit. Patients with bronchiolitis on HFNC were randomized to an existing "standard" HFNC protocol (max flow of 8 L per minute), or to a novel weight-based protocol (max flow of 2 L/kg per minute). Weaning of HFNC for the patients in the standard arm was left to provider discretion but was prescribed in the weight-based arm. The primary outcome was interhospital transfer to a PICU. The study was powered to detect a 35% difference in transfer rate. RESULTS: 51 patients were randomized to the weight-based or standard HFNC arms. The interhospital PICU transfer rate did not differ significantly between the standard (41.7%) and weight-based arms (51.9%) P = .47. Hospital length of stay was significantly shorter in the weight-based arm with protocolized weaning (45 h [interquartile range 42.1-63.3] versus 77.6 h [interquartile range 47.3-113.4]); P = .01. There were no significant adverse events in either group. CONCLUSIONS: Weight-based provision of HFNC did not significantly impact the number of patients with bronchiolitis requiring interhospital transfer from a community hospital to a PICU, though we were underpowered for this outcome. Patients who received weight-based flow with protocolized weaning had a shorter length of stay, which may reflect a clinical impact of weight-based flow or the efficacy of the aggressive weaning pathway.

Trends in the Use of Noninvasive and Invasive Ventilation for Severe Asthma.

OBJECTIVES: To explore and define contemporary trends in the use of invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in the treatment of children with asthma. METHODS: We performed a serial cross-sectional analysis using data from the Pediatric Health Information System. We examined 2014-2018 admission abstracts from patients aged 2 to 17 years who were admitted to member hospitals with a primary diagnosis of asthma. We report temporal trends in IMV use, NIV use, ICU admission, length of stay, and mortality. RESULTS: Over the study period, 48 hospitals reported 95 204 admissions with a primary diagnosis of asthma. Overall, IMV use remained stable at 0.6% between 2014 and 2018 (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.3%-1.1% and 0.2%-1.3%, respectively), whereas NIV use increased from 1.5% (IQR: 0.3%-3.2%) to 2.1% (IQR: 0.3%-5.6%). There was considerable practice variation among centers, with NIV rates more than doubling within the highest quartile of users (from 4.8% [IQR: 2.8%-7.5%] to 13.2% [IQR: 7.4%-15.2%]; P < .02). ICU admission was more common among centers with high NIV use, but centers with high NIV use did not differ from lower-use centers in mortality, IMV use, or overall average length of stay. CONCLUSIONS: The use of IMV is at historic lows, and NIV has replaced it as the primary mechanical support mode for asthma. However, there is considerable variability in NIV use. Increased NIV use was not associated with a change in IMV rates, which remained stable. Higher NIV use was associated with increased ICU admissions. NIV's precise contribution to the cost and quality of care remains to be determined.

Incidence and Imminence of Pregnancy in At-Risk Teens After Emergency Department Visits.

BACKGROUND: Interventions aimed at reducing teen pregnancy rates in the United States have focused on clinics and schools. Teens disproportionately seek care in emergency departments (EDs), making these an important and understudied arena for interventions to prevent subsequent unwanted pregnancies. Establishing the risk of subsequent pregnancy (SP) in this population is a necessary prelude to effective interventions. Therefore, we set out to measure the incidence and imminence of pregnancy in sexually active teens after an ED visit. METHODS: A medical record review was conducted in an urban medical center with a general ED and a pediatric ED. Subjects were included if they were female individuals aged 13 to 19 years, were tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia in the EDs from 2004 to 2006, and were patients in the primary care clinics at the affiliated institution. Subsequent pregnancies were determined from the primary clinic charts. The duration of follow-up was 4 years. RESULTS: Three hundred ninety-eight subjects were included in the study. The mean age at ED visit was 17.3 years. A majority (70.1%) had a documented SP. For patients with an SP, the mean interval from ED visit to conception was 15.8 months. Patients who had an SP were significantly more likely to be an ethnic minority, to have tested positive for gonorrhea, and to have visited the adult ED. CONCLUSIONS: In this population of sexually active teens, 70.1% became pregnant within 4 years of being tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia in the ED. The encounter in the ED represents a potential opportunity for pregnancy-prevention interventions.

Reducing the Cranial CT Rate for Pediatric Minor Head Trauma at Three Community Hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: Efforts to reduce the rate of computerized cranial tomography (CT) in pediatric patients with minor head trauma (MHT) have focused on academic medical centers. However, community hospitals deliver the majority of pediatric emergency care. We aimed to reduce cranial CT utilization in patients presenting with MHT at 3 community hospital emergency departments (EDs). METHODS: Multidisciplinary stakeholder teams at each site oversaw the quality improvement effort, which included education about an evidence-based guideline for MHT and individual provider feedback on CT rates. Given the variation in hospital structure, we tailored the specifics of the intervention to each site. We used statistical process control methodology to measure CT rates over time. The primary balancing measure was returned to the ED within 72 hours with clinically important traumatic brain injury. RESULTS: We included 3,215 pediatric ED visits for MHT: 1,253 in the baseline period and 1,962 in the intervention period. The CT rate dropped from 18% in the baseline period to 13% in the intervention period, a 28% relative reduction. Pediatric providers saw 72% of the intervention period encounters and drove this reduction. There was no increase in the number of children who returned to their local ED within 72 hours with clinically important traumatic brain injury. CONCLUSIONS: We safely reduced the proportion of children with MHT who received a cranial CT through a multicenter community ED quality improvement initiative. We did not see an increase in missed clinically important traumatic brain injury.

Initiation of Noninvasive Ventilation for Acute Respiratory Failure in a Pediatric Intermediate Care Unit.

BACKGROUND: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is increasingly used to manage acute respiratory failure in children, decreasing the need for mechanical ventilation. Safely managing these patients outside of the ICU improves ICU resource use. We measured the impact of a guideline permitting initiation of NIV in an intermediate care unit (IMCU) on ICU bed use. METHODS: A guideline for an NIV trial for acute respiratory failure was implemented in a 10-bed IMCU. The guideline stipulated criteria for initiation and maintenance of NIV. There were 4.5 years of intervention data collected. Baseline data were gathered for patients with acute respiratory failure who were transferred from the IMCU to the ICU for NIV initiation in the 3.25 years before guideline implementation. RESULTS: Three hundred eight patients were included: 101 in the baseline group and 207 in the intervention group. In the intervention group, 143 patients (69%) remained in the IMCU after NIV initiation, and 64 (31%) transferred to the ICU. A total of 656.4 ICU bed-days were saved in the intervention period (3.3 days per patient initiated on NIV in the IMCU). There was a significant decrease in the rate of intubation in the IMCU for patients awaiting ICU transfer (3 patients in the baseline group versus 0 patients in the intervention group; P = .035). CONCLUSIONS: The initiation of NIV in the IMCU for pediatric patients with acute respiratory failure saved ICU bed-days without increasing intubation in the IMCU for patients awaiting transfer. Close monitoring of these critically ill patients is a key component of their safe care.

A Clinical Pathway for the Care of Critically Ill Patients With Asthma in the Community Hospital Setting.

OBJECTIVES: The management of severe pediatric asthma exacerbations is variable. The use of clinical pathways has been shown to decrease time to clinical recovery and length of stay (LOS) for critically ill patients with asthma in freestanding children's hospitals. We sought to determine if implementing a clinical pathway for pediatric patients who are on continuous albuterol in a community hospital would decrease time to clinical recovery and LOS. METHODS: A clinical pathway for guiding the initiation, escalation, and weaning of critical asthma therapies was adapted to a community hospital without a PICU. There were 2 years of baseline data collection (from September 2014 to August 2016) and 16 months of intervention data collection. Segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series was used to evaluate the pathway's impact on LOS and time to clinical recovery. RESULTS: There were 129 patients in the study, including 69 in the baseline group and 60 in the intervention group. After pathway implementation, there was an absolute reduction of 10.2 hours (SD 2.0 hours) in time to clinical recovery (P ≤ .001). There was no significant effect on LOS. There was a significant reduction in the transfer rate (27.5% of patients in the baseline period versus 11.7% of patients in the intervention period; P = .025). There was no increase in key adverse events, which included the percentage of patients who required ICU-specific therapies while awaiting transfer (7.3% of patients in the baseline period versus 1.7% of patients in the intervention period; P = .215). CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a clinical pathway for the management of critically ill children with asthma and on continuous albuterol in a community hospital was associated with a significant reduction in time to clinical recovery without an increase in key adverse events.

Parent and Provider Experience and Shared Understanding After a Family-Centered Nighttime Communication Intervention.

OBJECTIVE: To assess parent and provider experience and shared understanding after a family-centered, multidisciplinary nighttime communication intervention (nurse-physician brief, family huddle, family update sheet). METHODS: We performed a prospective intervention study at a children's hospital from May 2013 to October 2013 (preintervention period) and May 2014 to October 2014 (postintervention period). Participants included 464 parents, 176 nurses, and 52 resident physicians of 582 hospitalized 0- to 17-year-old patients. Pre- versus postintervention, we compared parent/provider top-box scores (eg, "excellent") for experience with communication across several domains; and level of agreement (shared understanding) between parent, nurse, and resident reports of patients' reason for admission, overnight medical plan, and overall medical plan, as rated independently by blinded clinician reviewers (agreement = 74.7%, kappa = .60). RESULTS: Top-box parent experience improved for 1 of 4 domains: Experience and Communication With Nighttime Doctors (23.6% to 31.5%). Top-box provider experience improved for all 3 domains, including Communication and Shared Understanding With Families (resident rated, 16.5% to 35.1%; nurse rated, 32.2% to 37.9%) and Experience, Communication, and Shared Understanding With Other Providers (resident rated, 20.3% to 35.0%; nurse rated, 14.7% to 21.5%). Independently rated shared understanding remained unchanged for most domains but improved for parent-nurse composite shared understanding (summed agreement for reason for admission, overall plan, and overnight plan; 36.2% to 48.2%) and nurse-resident shared understanding regarding reason for admission (67.1% to 71.2%) and regarding overall medical plan (45.0% to 58.6%). All P <.05. CONCLUSIONS: A family-centered, multidisciplinary nighttime communication intervention was associated with improvements in some, but not all, domains of parent/provider experience and shared understanding, particularly provider experience and nurse-family shared understanding. The intervention was promising but requires further refinement.

Increasing Trainee Reporting of Adverse Events With Monthly Trainee-Directed Review of Adverse Events.

OBJECTIVE: Underreporting of adverse events by physicians is a barrier to improving patient safety. In an effort to increase resident and medical student (hereafter "trainee") reporting of adverse events, trainees developed and led a monthly conference during which they reviewed adverse event reports (AERs), identified system vulnerabilities, and designed solutions to those vulnerabilities. METHODS: Monthly conferences over the 22-month study period were led by pediatric trainees and attended by fellow trainees, departmental leadership, and members of the hospital's quality improvement team. Trainees selected which AERs to review, with a focus on common near misses. Discussions were directed toward the development of potential solutions to issues identified in the reports. Trainee submissions of AERs were tracked monthly. RESULTS: The mean number of AERs submitted by trainees increased from 6.7 per month during the baseline period to 14.1 during the study period (P < .001). The average percent of reports submitted by trainees increased from a baseline of 27.6% to 46.1% during the study period (P = .0059). There was no significant increase in reporting by any other group (attending, nursing, or pharmacy). Multiple meaningful solutions to identified system vulnerabilities were developed with trainee input. CONCLUSIONS: Trainee-led monthly adverse event review conferences sustainably increased trainee reporting of adverse events. These conferences had the additional benefit of having trainees use their unique perspective as frontline providers to identify important system vulnerabilities and develop innovative solutions.

Improving detection by pediatric residents of endotracheal tube dislodgement with capnography: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to determine if capnography could improve time to correction of a simulated endotracheal tube (ETT) dislodgement by pediatric residents. STUDY DESIGN: Pediatric residents attended a didactic session that included interpretation of capnography. A randomized controlled study was then performed using patient simulators. Residents were randomized to standard monitoring (control group) or standard monitoring plus capnography (intervention group). The primary outcome was time to correction of ETT dislodgement. Correction of dislodgement prior to decline in pulse oximetry was our secondary outcome. RESULTS: Twenty-seven subjects completed the simulation. Subjects in the intervention group corrected the ETT dislodgement faster than those in the control group (2.38 minutes vs 3.92 minutes, P = .02). There were no differences in time to correction based on postgraduate year, clinical experiences, or comfort with capnography. Two subjects corrected the dislodgement prior to changes in pulse oximetry, both from the intervention group. Fifty-nine percent of subjects had seen capnography used in the past and 82% felt very or somewhat comfortable with capnography. CONCLUSION: Capnography decreased time to correction of ETT dislodgement by pediatric residents. Capnography should be considered as an essential monitoring device for intubated patients to enhance patient safety.

The 2008 anatomy ceremony: voices, letter, poems.

Yale University medical and PA students express their gratitude in a compilation of reflections on learning human anatomy.