Parents' Participation in Care during Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Stay in COVID-19 Era: An Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Parents play a crucial role in the care of infants during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Recent studies have reported a decrease in parental participation due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has led to restricted access policies in hospitals. The aim of this study was to describe the barriers to good parental participation during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit in the COVID-19 era. METHODS: This was a quantitative, observational study. RESULTS: A total of 270 parents participated in this study. Mothers' participation in care was higher than that of fathers (p = 0.017). Parents who lived at the birth of their first child reported a better level of participation in care compared to those who lived at the birth of their second-born (p = 0.005). Parents of extremely preterm neonates reported a lower interaction with their infants than parents of term newborns (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Some disadvantaged categories reported lower scores for cultural and linguistic minorities, parents of multiple children, and fathers. The COVID-19 pandemic has made several family-centred care activities impossible, with a higher impact on those who benefited most of these facilities. This study was prospectively approved by the IRB-CRRM of the University "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti-Pescara on 23 January 2024 (approval number CRRM: 2023_12_07_01).

Bladder Temperature During Neonatal Targeted Temperature Management: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal encephalopathy is a clinical condition of altered neurological function in the first days of life. Targeted temperature management (TTM) is a validated approach to mitigate neurologic sequelae. Current literature suggests using rectal or esophageal site to assess temperature during TTM, but few studies focused on the best and the less invasive site to evaluate the temperature. This case report describes the performance of the bladder temperature monitoring during TTM. CLINICAL FINDINGS: A female newborn was born at 39 weeks' gestational age plus 4 days. At delivery, the newborn was in cardiorespiratory arrest. PRIMARY DIAGNOSIS: After performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and neurological examination, a hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy was diagnosed. INTERVENTIONS: After about 2 hours from birth, the newborn underwent TTM. OUTCOMES: A total of 4642 measurements of rectal temperature and 4520 measurements of bladder temperature were collected. Agreement between the 2 sites was statistically significant with a mean difference of 0.064°C ± 0.219 (95% confidence interval, -0.364 to 0.494); F = 47.044; and P value of less than .001. Furthermore, difference between rectal and bladder sites was not influenced by patient's urine output ( F = 0.092, P = .762). PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS: Bladder temperature seems to have a good reliability and not to be inferior to the other assessment site currently used. Using bladder catheter with temperature sensor could reduce the number of devices, ensure safer stabilization, and decrease treatment downtime.

Quality of Life of Pediatric Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: In a public health emergency, the psychological stress of nursing staff should be assessed, and nurses who cared for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients were constantly under pressure. Currently, frontline health care workers are experiencing mental health issues. The personal quality of life is directly related to the working environment, especially at this moment, when nursing could be a highly stressful and emotionally draining job. OBJECTIVES: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary objectives of the study were to describe the quality of life, posttraumatic stress disorder, and self-efficacy and to identify any associated factors of pediatric critical care nurses. This study is a multicenter cross-sectional study. METHODS: Data were collected between February and May 2021 from pediatric critical care nurses. The following instruments were used: the Nursing Quality of Life Scale, the Nursing Profession Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Impact of Event Scale. RESULTS: One hundred twelve nurses participated in this study with a 40% of response rate. Data suggest a better global perception of quality of life by male subjects (F = 6.65, P = .011). The nurses who cared for COVID-19 patients reported a lower quality of social life (F = 4.09, P = .045); furthermore, the nurses who had clinically vulnerable people in their families reported a worse quality of physical life (F = 4.37, P = .045). Approximately 50% of nurses reported sleep disturbances, and 37% reported symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, especially female nurses (F = 8.55, P = .04). CONCLUSION: According to this study, female nurses were more likely to experience posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, findings also highlighted a lower quality of social life for those with clinically vulnerable relatives may be due to a self-limitation of interactions with other people. Finally, sleep disturbances were prevalent, potentially affecting nurses' mental health and performance.

Regional Citrate Anticoagulation and Systemic Anticoagulation during Pediatric Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy: A Systematic Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Clotting is a major drawback of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) performed on critically ill pediatric patients. Although anticoagulation is recommended to prevent clotting, limited results are available on the effect of each pharmacological strategy in reducing filter clotting in pediatric CRRT. This study defines which anticoagulation strategy, between regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA) and systemic anticoagulation with heparin, is safer and more efficient in reducing clotting, patient mortality, and treatment complications during pediatric CRRT. METHODS: A systematic literature review was run considering papers published in English until December 2021 and describing patients' and treatments' complications in CRRT performed with heparin and RCA on patients aged less than 18 years. RESULTS: Eleven studies were considered, cumulatively comprising 1.706 CRRT sessions (62% with systemic anticoagulation and 38% with RCA). Studies have consistently identified RCA's superiority over systemic anticoagulation with heparin in prolonging circuit life. The pooled estimate (95% CI) of filter clotting risk showed that RCA is a protective factor for clotting risk (RR = 0.204). CONCLUSIONS: RCA has a potential role in prolonging circuit life and seems superior to systemic anticoagulation with heparin in decreasing the risk of circuit clotting during CRRT performed in critically ill pediatric patients.

Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy in Critically Ill Children in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Analysis of Real-Life Prescriptions, Complications, and Outcomes.

Introduction: Severe acute kidney injury is a common finding in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), however, Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) is rarely applied in this setting. This study aims to describe our experience in the rate of application of CRRT, patients' clinical characteristics at admission and CRRT initiation, CRRT prescription, predictors of circuit clotting, short- and long-term outcomes. Methods: A 6-year single center retrospective study in a tertiary PICU. Results: Twenty-eight critically ill patients aged 0 to 18 years received CRRT between January 2012 and December 2017 (1.4% of all patients admitted to PICU). Complete clinical and CRRT technical information were available for 23/28 patients for a total of 101 CRRT sessions. CRRT was started, on average, 40 h (20-160) after PICU admission, mostly because of fluid overload. Continuous veno-venous hemodiafiltration and systemic heparinization were applied in 83.2 and 71.3% of sessions, respectively. Fifty-nine sessions (58.4%) were complicated by circuit clotting. At multivariate Cox-regression analysis, vascular access caliber larger than 8 Fr [HR 0.37 (0.19-0.72), p = 0.004] and regional citrate anticoagulation strategy [HR 0.14 (0.03-0.60), p = 0.008] were independent protective factors for clotting. PICU mortality rate was 42.8%, and six survivors developed chronic kidney disease (CKD), within an average follow up of 3.5 years. Conclusions: CRRT is uncommonly applied in our PICU, mostly within 2 days after admission and because of fluid overload. Larger vascular access and citrate anticoagulation are independent protective factors for circuit clotting. Patients' PICU mortality rate is high and survival often complicated by CKD development.