Psychometric Testing of the Caregiver Attitudes on Substance Use in Pregnancy Instrument.

OBJECTIVE: To modify an existing instrument used to measure the attitudes of perinatal nursing caregivers about pregnant women with substance use disorder (SUD) and to psychometrically test the new instrument: Caregiver Attitudes on Substance Use in Pregnancy (CASUD-OB). DESIGN: Instrument modification and psychometric testing of results from a modified instrument. SETTING: Multi-hospital health care system in the midwestern United States. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 147 perinatal nursing caregivers (perinatal nurses: n = 131; unlicensed assistive personnel: n = 16) who worked on obstetric and neonatal nursing units. METHODS: We modified the existing instrument, and 12 experts in perinatal nursing (1 who also had expertise in SUD in the perinatal period) evaluated the items for content validity. We administered the CASUD-OB via online survey between November 2019 and December 2019. We used item reduction, calculated item-total correlations, and conducted exploratory factor analysis to modify the instrument and assessed its internal consistency. RESULTS: After psychometric testing, we reduced the number of items from 26 to 16. Through item reduction and exploratory factor analysis, we identified three subscales (Caregiver Bias, Caregiver Self-Awareness, and Caregiver Perception of Parental Fitness). The Cronbach's alpha for the overall instrument was .92. CONCLUSION: This study provides preliminary evidence to suggest that the CASUD-OB may be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring nurses' attitudes toward pregnant women with SUD. Through additional testing, this instrument has the potential to become a valuable resource to evaluate quality improvement initiatives, staff education programs, and other interventions designed to transform the attitudes of nursing caregivers toward pregnant women with SUD.

A Project to Implement Use of 40% Dextrose Gel for Transient Neonatal Hypoglycemia.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of oral dextrose gel and oral feedings on newborns' blood sugar homeostasis in the first day of life in an effort to decrease transfers to the NICU. DESIGN: Evidence-based practice project. SETTING/LOCAL PROBLEM: Obstetric service at a large hospital in northeast Ohio with approximately 5,300 births annually. Neonates who experienced hypoglycemia were often transferred to the NICU for management if treatment measures failed, thereby increasing the cost of care and separating mothers from their newborns. During 2018, there were 54 neonates transferred to the NICU for hypoglycemia. PARTICIPANTS: Pediatricians, neonatologists, neonatal nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, managers, educators, and registered nurses. INTERVENTION/MEASUREMENTS: An interdisciplinary task force created a nurse-driven protocol and associated order set and also created and provided interdisciplinary education to all involved caregivers using a multimodal approach. Neonates' charts were audited for the time period of April 2019 to April 2020 to evaluate participants' compliance with the prescribed practice changes. RESULTS: The number of neonates who qualified for blood glucose testing per the new protocol totaled 1,369. Of these, 188 (14%) met criteria for and were treated with 40% dextrose gel. Treatment with 40% dextrose gel was unsuccessful for 25 neonates, who were then transferred to the NICU. This is 29 fewer than were transferred in 2018. CONCLUSION: The use of oral dextrose gel and oral feedings was associated with a decrease in the number of newborns transferred to a higher level of care for treatment of hypoglycemia.