Diagnosed behavioral health conditions during the perinatal period among a commercially insured population by race/ethnicity, 2008-2020.

Objective: We sought to examine trends in diagnosed behavioral health (BH) conditions [mental health (MH) disorders or substance use disorders (SUD)] among pregnant and postpartum individuals between 2008-2020. We then explored the relationship between BH conditions and race/ethnicity, acknowledging race/ethnicity as a social construct that influences health disparities. Methods: This study included delivering individuals, aged 15-44 years, and continuously enrolled in a single commercial health insurance plan for 1 year before and 1 year following delivery between 2008-2020. We used BH conditions as our outcome based on relevant ICD 9/10 codes documented during pregnancy or the postpartum year. Results: In adjusted analyses, white individuals experienced the highest rates of BH conditions, followed by Black, Hispanic, and Asian individuals, respectively. Asian individuals had the largest increase in BH rates, increasing 292%. White individuals had the smallest increase of 192%. The trend remained unchanged even after adjusting for age and Bateman comorbidity score, the trend remained unchanged. Conclusions: The prevalence of diagnosed BH conditions among individuals in the perinatal and postpartum periods increased over time. As national efforts continue to work toward improving perinatal BH, solutions must incorporate the needs of diverse populations to avert preventable morbidity and mortality.

Application of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Framework to the NICU.

BACKGROUND: Infants and families requiring neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) care often experience significant stress and trauma during the earliest period of the infant's life, leading to increased risks for poorer infant and family outcomes. There is a need for frameworks to guide clinical care and research that account for the complex interactions of generational stress, pain, toxic stress, parental separation, and lifelong health and developmental outcomes for infants and families. PURPOSE: Apply the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) framework in the context of the NICU as a usable structure to guide clinical practice and research focused on infant neurodevelopment outcomes and parental attachment. METHODS: An overview of ACEs is provided along with a detailed discussion of risk at each level of the ACEs pyramid in the context of the NICU. Supportive and protective factors to help mitigate the risk of the ACEs in the NICU are detailed. RESULTS: NICU hospitalization may be considered the first ACE, or potentially an additional ACE, resulting in an increased risk for poorer health outcomes. The promotion of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and implementation of trauma-informed care and individualized developmental care potentially counter the negative impacts of stress in the NICU. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND RESEARCH: Nurses can help balance the negative and positive stimulation of the NICU through activities such as facilitated tucking, skin-to-skin care, mother's milk, and active participation of parents in infant care. Future research can consider using the ACEs framework to explain cumulative risk for adverse health and well-being in the context of NICU care.

NANN Membership Recommendations: Opportunities to Advance Racial Equity Within the Organization.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal care has advanced significantly in recent years, yet racial health inequities persist in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), with infants from racial and ethnic minority groups less likely to receive recommended treatment. Healthcare providers acknowledge that there are steps that can be taken to increase knowledge and awareness regarding health inequities. PURPOSE: To better understand current health equity-related initiatives in the neonatal community and solicit feedback from National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN) membership about advancing racial equity within the organization. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in January 2021. The anonymous, onetime survey was distributed to active NANN members via SurveyMonkey and included questions related to racial equity initiatives, recommendations, and demographics. Data analysis was conducted using an exploratory approach using descriptive statistics, and thematic analysis was used to summarize responses to open-ended questions. RESULTS: There were 325 members who completed the full survey, of whom were White (83%), female (96%), staff nurses (42%), and those with more than 16 years of experience (69%), and most (69%) were familiar with NANN's racial equity position statement. Recommendations were summarized into the following themes: (1) research, (2) education, (3) workforce diversity, (4) communication, (5) scholarships, (6) resources, and (7) community outreach. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND RESEARCH: NANN members offered clear and actionable recommendations to advance health equity within the neonatal community and organization, which included offering more diversity, inclusion, and equity education at the annual conferences, in ANC articles, and newsletters, and the creation of scholarships or reduced membership fees to encourage diverse enrollment in the organization.

Care Coordination Programs for Infants With Complex Conditions: A Systematic Review.

CONTEXT: Care coordination programs are becoming more widely available for children with complex conditions, yet we lack an understanding of programs available to infants and their benefits. OBJECTIVE: To summarize characteristics and outcomes associated with care coordination programs for infants with complex conditions. DATA SOURCES: Electronic search of Medline, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Web of Science databases for articles published from 2010 to 2021. STUDY SELECTION: Inclusion criteria consisted of (1) peer-reviewed manuscripts about a care coordination program, (2) infants (birth to 1 year) with complex medical conditions, (3) and reported at least 1 infant, parent, or healthcare utilization outcome. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted on program characteristics and outcomes (eg, infant, parent, and healthcare utilization and cost). Results were summarized by program characteristics and outcomes. RESULTS: The search returned 3189 studies. Twelve unique care coordination programs were identified from 17 studies in the final sample. Seven programs were hospital-based and 5 were outpatient-based. Most programs reported improvements with satisfaction with care, increased interactions with healthcare teams, reductions in infant mortality, and in health service use. A few programs reported increased costs related to staffing. LIMITATIONS: Few care coordination programs were identified specifically for infants and thus studies that did not report age categories (ie, infants) may not have been identified. CONCLUSIONS: Care coordination programs demonstrate cost reductions for health systems, families, and insurers and improvement in quality of care. Efforts to increase the uptake and sustain these beneficial programs need further exploration.

Impact of diaper change frequency on preterm infants' vital sign stability and skin health: A RCT.

BACKGROUND: Bundling nurse caregiving interventions are promoted to minimize infant stress. PURPOSE: To evaluate impact of bundled nursing care and diaper change frequency on vital sign stability and skin health of preterm infants born ≤32 weeks gestation. METHOD: Stable preterm infants on a 3-hour feeding schedule were randomly assigned to 3- vs. 6-hour diaper changes. Diapers were changed prior to 6 h if stool was present. Direct observation of bundled care events (BCE) identify caregiving activities during each BCE. Skin pH, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and neonatal skin condition scores (NSCS) were obtained. Vital sign data (HR, RR, O2 saturation) was downloaded from bedside monitors. RESULTS: Forty-six infants contributed to 605 BCEs. BCEs lasted on average 28 min and included nine different activities (e.g., vital signs, feeding). Significant increases in heart rate during BCEs occurred in approximately half of the observations. Among observations with a diaper change increases in heart rate during diapering occurred in over 74% of observations Infants who were awake at the beginning of BCEs had 48% lower odds of having a change in heart rate than infants who were sleeping (p = .02). There were no group differences (3- vs. 6-hour diaper change) in skin health outcomes (TEWL, pH, NSCS). CONCLUSION: Reducing diaper change frequency without stool present should be considered to minimize caregiving stress in preterm infants. Additional research should evaluate the intrusiveness and clusters of activities that significantly impact physiologic stability to better individualize the timing of routine yet intrusive activities. Clinicaltrials.gov registry # NCT03370757.

Parents' pandemic NICU experience in the United States: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents of infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) frequently reported high levels of stress, uncertainty, and decreased parenting confidence. Early research has demonstrated that parents have had less access to their infants in the hospital due to restrictions on parental presence secondary to the pandemic. It is unknown how parents have perceived their experiences in the NICU since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of parents who had an infant in the NICU in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to inform healthcare providers and policy makers for future development of policies and care planning. METHODS: The study design was a qualitative description of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parents' experiences of having an infant in the NICU. Free-text responses to open-ended questions were collected as part of a multi-method study of parents' experiences of the NICU during the first six months of the pandemic. Participants from the United States were recruited using social media platforms between the months of May and July of 2020. Data were analyzed using a reflexive thematic approach. FINDINGS: Free-text responses came from 169 parents from 38 different states in the United States. Three broad themes emerged from the analysis: (1) parents' NICU experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic were emotionally isolating and overwhelming, (2) policy changes restricting parental presence created disruptions to the family unit and limited family-centered care, and (3) interactions with NICU providers intensified or alleviated emotional distress felt by parents. A unifying theme of experiences of emotional distress attributed to COVID-19 circumstances ran through all three themes. CONCLUSIONS: Parents of infants in the NICU during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic experienced emotional struggles, feelings of isolation, lack of family-centered care, and deep disappointment with system-level decisions. Moving forward, parents need to be considered essential partners in the development of policies concerning care of and access to their infants.

Impacts of Neonatal Hospitalization on Families during the 2019 Coronavirus Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: Limited data are available regarding family and financial well-being among parents whose infants were hospitalized during the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The study objective was to evaluate the family and financial well-being of parents whose infants were hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) during COVID-19. STUDY DESIGN: Parents were recruited for this online, cross-sectional survey via support groups on social media. Data collection was completed between May 18, 2020 and July 31, 2020. The final sample consisted of 178 parents, who had an infant hospitalized in an NICU between February 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020. The primary outcomes were impact on family life and financial stability, as measured by the Impact on Family scale, an instrument that evaluates changes to family life as a result of infant or childhood illness. RESULTS: Of the 178 parent respondents, 173 (97%) were mothers, 107 (59.4%) were non-Hispanic White, and 127 (69.5%) of the infants were born prematurely. Parents reported significant family impact and greater financial difficulty. Extremely premature infants, lower household income, parent mental health, and lower parental confidence were predictive of greater impacts on family life. CONCLUSION: Parents reported significant family and financial impacts during their infant's hospitalization amid COVID-19. Further studies are needed to guide clinical practice and inform family-supportive resources that can mitigate consequences to family well-being. KEY POINTS: · Impact of infant hospitalization in the context of COVID-19 is largely unknown.. · In a cohort of NICU parents during COVID-19, they reported changes to family life and finances.. · Greater impacts were reported by parents with lower income, confidence, and very premature infants..

Visitor Guidelines in US Children's Hospitals During COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES: To examine visitor guidelines among children's hospitals in the United States in response to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: A retrospective assessment of visitor guidelines in 239 children's hospitals in the United States. RESULTS: In this study, we present an analysis of 239 children's hospital visitor guidelines posted to hospitals' Web sites during 1 week in June 2020. Of the 239 hospitals, only 28 did not have posted guidelines for review. The guidelines were analyzed and grouped by how the guidelines were updated in response to COVID-19. Parental visitation was restricted to 1 parent in 116 of the posted guidelines (49%). There were no obvious similarities among guidelines associated with their geographical (eg, state or local) location. As of February 2021, 33 of 55 (60%) randomly selected hospitals had not changed their visitor policy since our initial review. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered changes in publicly reported visitor guidelines across the majority of children's hospitals. With our findings, we suggest wide variation in policies and practices in how guidelines were updated. More work is needed to understand how to optimize public safety and preserve family-centered care and parental authority in times of crisis.

Becoming an Antiracist Neonatal Community.

BACKGROUND: There are pervasive and documented disparities in maternal and infant outcomes related to race and ethnicity. Critical awareness is growing in our current cultural environment about strategies to improve health equity, the need to challenge implicit bias, and dismantle racism in healthcare to decrease racial health inequities. METHODS: In this article, we provide a summary of health inequities that exist within the perinatal/neonatal population and offer strategies for initiating conversations and improving health equity by challenging bias and increasing diversity. RESULTS: Transformative leaders must understand the evidence related to health disparities, understand social drivers of inequity issues, and identify solutions to influence change. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: With heightened awareness and examination of implicit bias, we can improve care for all infants and their families. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: We need to continue research and quality improvement efforts to improve health equity. Furthermore, research is needed that focus on social determinants of health as drivers of preterm delivery and birth complications, rather than biological (eg, racialized) factors.Video Abstract available at:https://journals.lww.com/advancesinneonatalcare/Pages/videogallery.aspx?autoPlay=false&videoId=42.

Parenting Self-Efficacy in Fathers of Medically Complex Infants: A Longitudinal Study.

INTRODUCTION: Infants with medical complexity are have multiple chronic conditions and require specialized intensive care. One important factor in optimizing infant health and development is parenting self-efficacy (PSE). The purpose of this study was to examine parental self-efficacy in fathers over time. METHODS: A longitudinal survey study was conducted with fathers of medically complex infants. We used the validated Karitane Parent Confidence Scale to assess PSE and multivariable linear regression examined the associations between father and infant characteristics on PSE. RESULTS: Fathers (n=27) were white (74%), married (85%), high school educated (37%), with incomes ≥ $US50,000 (66%). Father's mean PSE score was 39.28 (±3.9). Hispanic ethnicity and total number of chronic conditions were significant predictors of lower PSE in fathers (p < .03). CONCLUSIONS: Fathers of medically complex infants reported low PSE. More strategic interventions need to focus on self-efficacy and creating opportunities for connection between fathers and infants.

Inpatient Unit Leaders' Perspectives on Parent Engagement in Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care: A Secondary, Qualitative Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Hospital unit leaders help set the unit's priorities and are responsible for guiding the unit mission and philosophy of care; however, the perspective of leaders in facilitating parent engagement within intensive care units is limited. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore how medical and nursing unit leaders facilitate parent engagement in intensive care settings. METHODS: Qualitative secondary analysis of 16 semistructured interviews of unit leadership (medical directors and nurse managers). Directed content analysis explored themes within the interviews using systematic strategies to ensure rigor. FINDINGS: Unit leadership described 3 main features of care delivery necessary for supporting parent engagement: (1) culture of care, (2) relationships in care, and (3) environment of care. Communication among providers and parents and timing of decision-making were key areas addressed, along with concerns about physical space limiting parent engagement. Unit leaders discussed how the 3 main features (unit culture, relationships, and physical space) of care delivery were interconnected to optimize parent engagement. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Overall, unit leaders recognized the importance of each feature of care delivery in facilitating engagement. Parent engagement is ultimately influenced by the optimization of delivering inclusive care: the physical space, the policies surrounding medical and nursing care, and the overall culture of the unit. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Future research needs to explore best practices around relationship building and managing space limitations. Further clarification of the needs and expectations of both parents and providers surrounding parent engagement in intensive care settings is needed.

Patterns of Parenting Confidence Among Infants With Medical Complexity: A Mixed-Methods Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Parenting confidence is an important factor in fostering optimal health and development of infants with medical complexity. However, our understanding of how parents of medically complex infants describe development of confidence is limited. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to describe the nature and development of parenting confidence. METHODS: A mixed-method design was used to examine how parents described their level of confidence. Ten parents of infants with medical complexity. Quantitative measures provided patterns of confidence and qualitative data focused on parent descriptions of confidence. Parents completed online surveys at 3 time points: (1) study enrollment, (2) infant discharge from hospital, and (3) 3 months after discharge. Parents were purposively sampled, using their confidence patterns, for qualitative phone interviews. RESULTS: Our analysis of quantitative findings revealed 3 confidence patterns: (1) increasing, (2) stable, and (3) varying. Parents described their confidence as either (1) a state of being confident or (2) how they behaved in the parenting role. Parents felt both certain and uncertain in their level of confidence and described confidence as being situationally dependent. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Parenting confidence needs to be cultivated through encouragement and repeated exposure to parenting behaviors. Nurses are well-suited to help identify parents with low confidence to support parents so that they can develop confidence. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Because there is variability in parent confidence during this critical early period of life, future research should consider a larger cohort of parents that compares confidence in diverse parent groups (ie, married vs living together couples, same-sex couples, and single parents). Research should also examine effective strategies to promote confidence and associated long-term health and developmental outcomes.

Development of parenting self-efficacy in mothers of high-risk infants.

PURPOSE: The aim of this prospective, longitudinal study was to (1) examine the development of parenting self-efficacy (PSE), (2) explore the influence of contextual factors (e.g., family functioning, family centered care, and infant medical caregiving complexity) on PSE development, and (3) whether PSE and contextual factors predict parent and infant health outcomes in a high-risk infant population. METHOD: Mothers (n = 67) of infants diagnosed with a complex medical condition following birth were enrolled within 3 weeks of their infant's diagnosis and admission to intensive care. Participants completed an online study survey at study enrollment (T1), infant discharge (T2), and 3 months after discharge (T3). Change in PSE was examined using mixed modeling and predictors of parent and infant health outcomes were explored using multiple regression. RESULTS: PSE significantly increased over time (b = 2.08, p < .0001). Family functioning was the only significant contextual factor, where worse family functioning at enrollment was associated with lower confidence over time. Mothers who were older and had more than one child were significant predicators of higher PSE. Interestingly, being married, compared to being single, was associated with decreased PSE. Higher PSE was also predictive of positive maternal psychological wellbeing at 3 months after discharge and a decrease in infant's medical complexity was associated with higher maternal psychological well-being. CONCLUSION: These are important findings given that PSE is known to contribute to infant development and health status.

Delineating Among Parenting Confidence, Parenting Self-Efficacy, and Competence.

This article examined the concepts of parenting self-efficacy, parenting confidence, and competence. Using Morse's method of concept delineation, a literature review of each concept was conducted to uncover commonalities, distinctions, and measurement overlaps between concepts and provide conceptual boundaries. Findings revealed that parenting confidence and parenting self-efficacy describe a parents' internal attribution or beliefs about their ability to engage in parenting behaviors. Both terms have similar antecedents, attributes, and consequences, whereas competence is a concept that should be used as an objective measure by someone other than the parent to assess parenting quality.