Biomedical subjects

D Bishop-Kurylo

Publications and source records attributed to D Bishop-Kurylo.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1998

The clinical experience of continuous quality improvement in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Central line catheters are commonly placed in extremely low-birthweight infants to provide venous access for administration of hyperalimentation and medications. Infections is the most common complication of central line catheters in this patient population. With expansion of the neonatal intensive care unit at Allegheny General Hospital and an increase in the number of infants weighing less than 1000 g, there was a proportionate increase in the number of central line catheter days. A multidisciplinary team formed to improve central line care practices to reduce the rate of line infections. The continuous quality improvement process was used to modify central line practices, which led to a decrease in the rate of central line infections. For the first 8 months of 1997, the infection rate was below the 25th percentile according to the National Nosocomial infections Surveillance System data.

Catheterization, Central Venous↗

PubMed1998

Clinical pathways for family-oriented developmental care in the intensive care nursery.

The physiologic and neurodevelopmental benefits of developmentally sensitive nursing care for high-risk infants have been well documented. The remaining challenge is to find ways to introduce developmental care principles into busy intensive care nurseries. The article discusses the development of three clinical pathways designed around five areas for developmental intervention: environmental organization, structuring of nursing care, feeding, family involvement, and family education. Each pathway incorporated developmental principles appropriate for a different level of care; the level III pathway was designed for acutely ill or very premature infants, the level II pathway for infants recovering from acute illness or older premature infants, and the level I pathway for full-term infants. Introduction of the developmental care pathways had an immediate positive impact in the tertiary level intensive care nursery at Allegheny General Hospital.

Child Development↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Pediatric resuscitation: development of a mock code program and evaluation tool.

Effective and efficient resuscitation skills are especially significant for pediatric care providers because of the increased neurologic morbidity and mortality associated with pediatric arrests. A mock code system was initiated to assess and enhance the competency of the medical and nursing staff who respond to pediatric arrests in all areas of an acute care general hospital. Two mock codes are conducted each month using a data collection tool. All of the critical skills involved in a pediatric resuscitation are listed in the tool and each skill is evaluated as met or not met. The tool identifies areas for further education and quantifies improvement in skills over a period of time. In addition, the Pediatric CPR Committee uses the data from the mock codes to initiate systems and equipment improvements.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation↗