Implementation of a discharge pathway to decrease infant's postoperative length of stay in a cardiac intensive care unit

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Buckner_Brenda_Dissertation.pdf (820.28 KB)

Date

2022-07-08

Authors

Buckner, Brenda Rachelle

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2388-3649

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DOI

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/94529

Abstract

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most prevalent of all birth defects. In the United States there are about 40,000 new cases diagnosed annually. About 25% of those infants have a critical congenital heart defect (CCHD) requiring surgical intervention in the first 30 days of life in order to survive. Discharge from the hospital to home is a major process that, if fragmented, is inconsistent or unstructured can lead to medication errors, treatment delays, increased health care costs, and lower quality of care. Safely transitioning infants with CCHDs from the hospital to home requires planning that begins on admission. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine if implementing a standardized discharge pathway for infants with CCHDs could improve the discharge processes and decrease postoperative length of stay in a 22-bed mixed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). The pathway was initiated on all infants requiring a surgical intervention within the first 30 days of life. The aim of having 100% of participants with a completed checklist by the end of the three-month project and 100% of parents completing the required rooming in period before discharge were met. However, no decrease in PLOS was demonstrated in this quality improvement cycle for STAT 2 and STAT 3 categories and a 0.5 day decrease in PLOS was demonstrated in STAT 5.

Description

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice in Nursing Practice from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Keywords

critical congenital heart defects, discharge, PLOS

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This material is made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with its source. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the author and/or publisher., This material is made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with its source. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the author and/or publisher.

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