Response to a National Issue: Moving Beyond "Back to Sleep" at Three Hospitals

To measure changes in registered nurse (RN) knowledge/beliefs and practices, parents' recall of infant safe sleep (ISS) teaching, and inpatient infant sleep environments and safety after implementing an ISS initiative.

This longitudinal quasi-experimental study took place in three hospitals in the United States. An existing infant safe sleep tool was revised and updated to align with current recommendations on sleep environments. A bundled intervention included educating nurses, changing unit processes and implementing crib cards and room signs. Paired questionnaires surveyed 62 nurses before and 2 months after the intervention. Audits of 462 cribs/sleep environments with parent conversations assessed infant sleep conditions and parents' recall of RN teaching before and after the intervention.

After Bonferroni correction, eight of 19 items for RN knowledge/beliefs and self-reported practice showed statistically significant improvements with moderate effect sizes. All 11 items for parents' recall of RN teaching showed statistically significant improvements, with odds ratios ranging from 7 to 76. Five of six real-time sleep safety conditions (from crib/sleep environment audits) had statistically significant improvements. Odds ratios ranged from eight to 83.

An updated educational tool improved nurses' and parents' knowledge and practices related to current and updated safety factors for infant sleep conditions. Inpatient adherence to infant sleep safety recommendations improved.

A two-hour investment of nurses' time yielded statistically significant improvements. Factors critical to the success of the ISS project roll-out are reported. Improvements in parents' recall of teaching and actual sleep environments suggest potential for long-term changes in infant safety at home.