Sustainability of high flow in a Peruvian PICU: A qualitative analysis

To describe nurse and physician perspectives on enabling factors that promote sustainability of high flow use in resource-limited settings.

Over 650 000 children died from respiratory infections in 2016 globally. Many deaths could be prevented with access to advanced paediatric respiratory support, but sustainability of technology in resource-limited settings remains challenging.

Local providers have expertise related to site-specific barriers to sustainability. Engaging local providers during implementation can identify strategies to promote ongoing technology use beyond initial deployment.

This qualitative descriptive study was conducted five focus groups with nineteen nurses and seven individual interviews with physicians in a Peruvian paediatric intensive care unit. Data were analysed using a realist thematic approach.

Providers described five important factors for high flow sustainability: (i) Applying high flow to a broader patient population, including use outside the paediatric intensive care unit to increase opportunities for practice; (ii) Establishing a multidisciplinary approach to high flow management at all hours; (iii) Willingness of nurses and physicians to adopt standardization; (iv) Ongoing high flow leadership; (v) Transparency of high flow impact, including frequent reporting of clinical outcomes of high flow patients.

Local providers described strategies to overcome barriers to sustainability of high flow in their clinical setting, many of which are generalizable to implementation projects in other resource-limited settings.

These findings provide nursing, administrative leaders and policymakers with strategies to promote sustainability of new technology in resource-limited settings, including development of guidelines for appropriate clinical use, change management support, leadership development and clinical outcome reporting procedures. Administrative support and oversight are paramount to foster successful implementation in these settings.