Neonatal abstinence syndrome, increasing surveillance in newborns

Abstract

<p>The purpose of this project was to improve nursing staff&rsquo;s knowledge of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, identifiable risk factors, how to screen for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, and how to report positive findings from the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome screen. The goal for implementation of this intervention was to improve the rates of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome screening in the newborn nursery.</p> <p>The background included staff education on how to initiate the NAS screening tool, newborns at risk will have a nursing staff who are hypervigilant to any abnormalities and the need for any interventions beyond normal newborn care. When infants are identified for NAS, they are then placed under ongoing surveillance by the hospital staff and the pediatric provider.</p> <p>The methods used in this quality improvement project had a comparative design that was developed around an education intervention provided to the nursing staff. Once the education was provided, a retrospective chart audit was performed. The purpose of this method was to compare the NAS scoring pre-education to a hypothesized improvement in NAS scoring after the education delivery.</p> <p>The results of the study were obtained within a 20 bed Level II nursery within a regional medical center that serves a city of approximately 29,000 along with multiple outlying communities. The vulnerable newborn population has been falling through the cracks with inconsistent surveillance and undereducated nursing staff regarding Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. This small, controlled environment was the ideal size for a quality improvement project that aims to improve surveillance based on the presence of risk factors. This quality improvement project used a comparative quantitative research method to determine statistical significance for the intervention provided in evaluating pre-intervention data with postintervention data.</p> <p>In conclusion, with the significance in the increase in NAS screening rates post-education to pre-education, and a significant power analysis, this study showed evidence of a true change. In summary, there was statistical evidence to show an increase in NAS screening after the educational intervention as initially hypothesized.</p>