<p> The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) delineated four criteria for management of perinatal care and discharge (DC) of high-risk neonates: 1) physiological stability, 2) tracking and surveillance of growth and development for each infant, 3) active parental involvement with the infant's care, and 4) follow-up care arranged with experienced primary care provider. Registered Nurses in California Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) were surveyed about NICU DC transitioning programs to 1) identify current common standards of care used in DC transitioning and 2) define the nature and extent of additional criteria and procedures used in DC transitioning. Useable surveys were obtained from 32 of the 79 facilities queried (41%): 17 (53%) Level II, 10 (31%) Level III, and 5 (16%) Level IV. All responding facilities were located in communities of 100,000 people or more. All but one of the facilities (97%) used all four AAP criteria for determining readiness for DC. Facilities differed in whether they also used weight, corrected gestational age, or both as criteria for DC. They differed in the definition of active parental involvement with care, the degree to which parents participated in DC planning, who arranged for post-DC primary care, and how outcomes of DC planning practices were evaluated. Profiles derived from these data can be used to expand procedures, guidelines, and policies for DC transitioning of the NICU graduate.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3665293 |
| Date | 19 December 2014 |
| Creators | Lovejoy-Bluem, Arlene |
| Publisher | Brandman University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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