“Zooming Ahead”; Post-NICU Discharge Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infant Follow-up Program Goes Virtual
- Duration: 60 Mins
- Credits: 1 CERP, 1 L-CERP, 1 Nurse Contact Hours
- Handout: Yes
Abstract:
Many preterm infants remain vulnerable following discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Health challenges persist beyond the NICU including respiratory illness, breastfeeding progression, bottle feeding incoordination, behavior and development issues, impaired growth, infrequent stooling, and gastroesophageal reflux. Preterm infants are up to two times more likely than full term infants to be hospitalized in the first year of life. Parents are challenged to transition their premature baby home and to keep them home!
Community-based, specialized follow-up services following NICU discharge have a powerful impact. The Neonatal Transition Team in Calgary, Alberta, Canada provides post-NICU follow-up for very-low-birth-weight infants and their families. The team consists of community health registered nurses with advanced skill in premature infant outcomes, feeding and neurodevelopmental assessment, and a consultation partnership with nutritional and feeding specialists. While home visits have been the backbone of this service, the team questioned the feasibility and acceptance of virtual care and completed a three month quality improvement pilot. This virtual care pilot demonstrated optimization of health-care resources by providing safe, high-quality care at a reduced operational cost. The pilot was instrumental in the team’s management during the SARS-COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual care has been fully operationalized into the service delivery model and expanded to serve other newborns with feeding or growth challenges.
Learning Objectives:
1. Explain the rationale for a post-NICU discharge follow-up service.
2. Describe the role of nurses on the Neonatal Transition Team.
3. Describe the feasibility of virtual care for families of very preterm newborns and impact on follow-up service.
