Mrs. Tesi Thomas
Northwell Health System, USATitle: Implementation of cue-based feeding to improve preterm infant feeding outcomes and promote parents’ involvement
Abstract
Establishing safe and efficient oral feeding is a requirement for NICU discharge. Feeding difficulties/challenges during NICU stay can prolong hospital stay, increase health care costs, hinder infant-parent bonding, stress on family relationships and predispose baby for short and long-term struggles with eating. A quality improvement project with a pre–post evidence-based practice was implemented in a Level III NICU in a quaternary hospital in the U.S. Northeast to assess the effects of cue-based feeding on time to achieve full oral feedings, length of stay, and parents’ involvement in the feeding process. We implemented cue-based feeding through staff education and training. We completed a retrospective review of the medical records of preterm infants from 23 0/7 weeks to 31 6/7 weeks gestational age who were eligible for initiation of oral feeding. For infants 23 0/7 weeks to 27 6/7 weeks gestation, time to achieve full oral feedings decreased by 7 days, length of stay decreased by 4.4 days, and parents’ involvement in the feeding process increased by 80% from before to after implementation. For infants 28 0/7 weeks to 31 6/7 weeks, time to achieve full oral feedings decreased by 6.6 days, length of stay decreased by 2.7 days, and parents’ involvement in the feeding process increased by 49% from before to after implementation. The organization saved $103,950 per year by decreasing length of stay. Cue-based feeding decreased time to achieve full oral feedings, decreased length of stay, increased parents’ involvement in the feeding process, and resulted in cost savings for the institution
Biography
Tesi Thomas, MSN, RNC-NIC, is a clinical nurse educator, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Northwell Health, Northshore University Hospital, Manhasset, NY.
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