Shifting Provider Attitudes and Institutional Resources Surrounding Resuscitation at the Limit of Gestational Viability.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to provide contemporary data regarding provider perceptions of appropriate care for resuscitation and stabilization of periviable infants and institutional resources available to providers. STUDY DESIGN: A Qualtrics survey was emailed to 672 practicing neonatologists in the United States by use of public databases. Participants were asked about appropriate delivery room care for infants born at 22 to 26 weeks gestational age, factors affecting decision-making, and resources utilized regarding resuscitation. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the dataset. RESULTS: In total, 180 responses were received, and 173 responses analyzed. Regarding preferred course of care based on gestational age, the proportion of respondents endorsing full resuscitation decreased with decreasing gestational age (25 weeks = 99%, 24 = 64%, 23 = 16%, and 22 = 4%). Deference to parental wishes correspondingly increased with decreasing gestational age (25 weeks = 1%, 24 = 35%, 23 = 82%, and 22 = 46%). Provision of comfort care was only endorsed at 22 to 23 weeks (23 weeks = 2%, 22 = 50%). Factors most impacting decision-making at 22 weeks gestational age included: outcomes based on population data (79%), parental wishes (65%), and quality of life measures (63%). Intubation with a 2.5-mm endotracheal tube (84%), surfactant administration in the delivery room (77%), and vascular access (69%) were the most supported therapies for initial stabilization. Availability of institutional resources varied; the most limited were obstetric support for cesarean delivery at the limit of viability (37%), 2.0-mm endotracheal tube (45%), small baby protocols (46%), and a consulting palliative care teams (54%). CONCLUSION: There appears to be discordance in provider attitudes surrounding preferred actions at 23 and 22 weeks. Provider attitudes regarding decision-making at the limit of viability and identified resource limitations are nonuniform. Between-hospital variations in outcomes for periviable infants may be partly attributable to lack of provider consensus and nonuniform resource availability across institutions. KEY POINTS: · Within the past decade, there has been a shift in the gray zone from 23-24 to 22-23 weeks gestation.. · Attitudes around resuscitation of infants are nonuniform despite perceived standardized approaches.. · Institutional variability in resources may contribute to variation in outcomes of periviable infants..

An Improvement Approach to Integrate Teaching Teams in the Reporting of Safety Events.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Patient safety events are underreported by physicians. Baseline data demonstrated that physicians submitted 3% of event reports at Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital. Our aim was to increase the proportion of safety reports filed by residents and faculty to 6% of all reports within a 9-month period. METHODS: We used the Model for Improvement and serial Plan, Do, Study, Act cycles to test interventions we hypothesized would improve physician recognition and reporting of patient safety events. We tracked the percentage of Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital event reports entered by residents or faculty over time as the primary outcome measure. Changes to teaching team processes included "patient safety rounds" prompted by text messages, an inpatient "superintendent" rotation with core patient safety responsibilities, and a "just-in-time" faculty development program called "QI on the Fly." RESULTS: Physician-reported events increased to a monthly average of 24% of all events reported, an improvement that has been sustained over 17 months. Resident reporting accounted for most of the increase in physician reports. Increased physician reporting was temporally associated with implementation of the "superintendent" rotation. The total number of events reported increased as a result of increased physician reporting. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating patient safety responsibilities into a teaching team's workflow can increase physician safety event reporting. We plan additional Plan, Do, Study, Act cycles to spread this approach to other clinical settings and investigate the impact increased reporting might have on patient care.

In Pursuit of Meaningful Use of Learning Goals in Residency: A Qualitative Study of Pediatric Residents.

PURPOSE: Medical education aims to equip physicians for lifelong learning, an objective supported by the conceptual framework of self-regulated learning (SRL). Learning goals have been used to develop SRL skills in learners across the medical education continuum. This study's purpose was to elicit residents' perspectives on learning goal use and to develop explanations suggesting how aspects of the learning environment may facilitate or hinder the meaningful use of learning goals in residency. METHOD: Resident focus groups and program director interviews were conducted in 2012-2013, audio-recorded, and transcribed. Programs were selected to maximize diversity of size, geographic location, type of program, and current use of learning goals. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method associated with grounded theory. Further analysis compared themes frequently occurring together to strengthen the understanding of relationships between the themes. Through iterative discussions, investigators built a grounded theory. RESULTS: Ninety-five third-year residents and 12 program directors at 12 pediatric residency programs participated. The analysis identified 21 subthemes grouped into 5 themes: program support, faculty roles, goal characteristics and purposes, resident attributes, and accountability and goal follow-through. Review of relationships between the themes revealed a pyramid of support with program support as the foundation that facilitates the layers above it, leading to goal follow-through. CONCLUSIONS: Program support facilitates each step of the SRL process that leads to meaningful use of learning goals in residency. A strong foundation of program support should include attention to aspects of the implicit curriculum as well as the explicit curriculum.

Implementation and case-study results of potentially better practices to improve pain management of neonates.

OBJECTIVE: Collaborative quality improvement techniques were used to facilitate local quality improvement in the management of pain in infants. Several case studies are presented to highlight this process. METHODS: Twelve NICUs in the Neonatal Intensive Care Quality Improvement Collaborative 2002 focused on improving neonatal pain management and sedation practices. These centers developed and implemented evidence-based potentially better practices for pain management and sedation in neonates. The group introduced changes through plan-do-study-act cycles and tracked performance measures throughout the process. RESULTS: Strategies for implementing potentially better practices varied between centers on the basis of local characteristics. Individual centers identified barriers to implementation, developed tools for improvement, and shared their experience with the collaborative. Baseline data from the 12 sites revealed substantial opportunities for improved pain management, and local potentially better practice implementation resulted in measurable improvements in pain management at participating centers. CONCLUSIONS: The use of collaborative quality improvement techniques enhanced local quality improvement efforts and resulted in effective implementation of potentially better practices at participating centers.

Fetal Diamond-Blackfan anemia associated with hydrops fetalis.

We present a case of fetal Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) associated with hydrops fetalis and review the current literature focusing on the pathophysiology and presentation of DBA. We conclude that DBA should be considered as a possible etiology for fetal anemia even in the absence of a family history of anemia.