Prewarming in a pediatric hospital: process improvement through interprofessional collaboration

A quality improvement project intended to promote maintenance of normothermia through active prewarming was carried out at a pediatric specialty hospital. An alternative active, forced-air warming product (Bair Paws warming gowns) was trialed in place of the existing active warming product (Bair Hugger blankets). Converting to the new product was intended to improve patient and staff compliance with prewarming recommendations. The alternative forced air active warming product was favored by both staff and patients, and the rate of compliance with this practice nearly doubled following the change in product. Extensive interprofessional collaboration and problem solving were required to go from an idea to a fully implemented change. The project demonstrated the importance of collaboration among various disciplines and the positive impact interprofessional collaboration can have on compliance with practice changes.