Improving Commitment to Family-Centered Care in the NICU: A Multicenter Collaborative Quality Improvement Project

Area of Science:

• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) care practices
• Quality improvement initiatives in healthcare
• Family-centered care (FCC) implementation

Background:

• Family-centered care (FCC) is recognized for its positive impact in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
• Despite proven benefits, FCC is not consistently implemented as a standard of care in NICUs.
• A gap exists in the widespread adoption of FCC structures like committees and councils.

Purpose of the Study:

• To increase the percentage of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) that have established family-centered care (FCC) committees.
• To enhance the number of NICUs with Family Partnership Councils (FPCs).
• To implement and evaluate a quality improvement initiative focused on FCC adoption.

Main Methods:

• A multi-center quality improvement project utilized collaborative mentoring in small groups of participating NICUs.
• Key driver diagrams and Pareto charts were employed to identify and address barriers to FCC implementation.
• The primary outcome was the establishment of FCC committees and/or FPCs, with process measures including webinar engagement.

Main Results:

• The percentage of NICUs with FCC committees rose from 18% to 59% across 22 participating sites.
• The establishment of FPCs increased from 18% to 45% in the participating NICUs.
• Engagement with bi-monthly educational webinars significantly increased, as indicated by a rise in average views from 28 to 182 per webinar.

Conclusions:

• A collaborative mentoring approach effectively facilitated the development of FCC committees and FPCs in NICUs.
• Targeted educational interventions, delivered via webinars, supported the initiative's success.
• The quality improvement model demonstrated a significant increase in FCC infrastructure within participating NICUs.