Innovative Approaches to NICU Quality Improvement & Patient Safety Through Team Collaboration
9:00AM- 9:45AM
Advancing Neonatal Care Through Verification: Inside the AAP NICU Verification Program
This session provides an in-depth overview of the AAP NICU Verification Program, highlighting its national framework for supporting standardized, evidence-based neonatal care. Attendees will explore the verification and designation process, learn how team-based collaboration and innovation drive quality improvement and patient safety, and hear practical insights and lessons learned from NICUs that have participated in the program.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the purpose, structure, and national scope of the AAP NICU Verification Program and how it supports standardized, evidence-based neonatal care through effective team collaboration.
Explain the core components of the AAP neonatal verification and designation process and how these elements drive quality improvement and patient safety initiatives.
Examine how the AAP NICU Verification Program leverages innovative, collaborative, team-based approaches to enhance communication, streamline care processes, and foster a culture of safety.
Discuss lessons learned and real-world examples from NICUs participating in the AAP NICU Verification Program, highlighting improvements in workflow, team performance, and peer learning.
Presented by:
Colleen Moss, DNP, NNP-BC, Associate Professor and Director, Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Specialty Program - Vanderbilt University School of Nursing; AAP Neonatal Verification Program Surveyor
9:45AM - 10:30AM
Reimagining the Neonatology Workforce: Financial Pressures and Evolving Staffing Models
This educational session examines current workforce challenges in neonatology through the lens of NICU financial structures, including professional and facility fees. Attendees will explore how rising costs and ACGME changes are straining traditional staffing models and evaluate emerging approaches designed to balance financial sustainability, provider morale, and burnout reduction.
Learning Objectives:
Review financial structure of NICUs in the US – professional fees and facility fees
Understand the challenges to traditional staffing models due to cost and ACGME changes
Evaluate new models of staffing based on finances, morale and burnout
Presented by:
Satyan Lakshminrusimha, Executive Associate Dean, Professor & Chair - UC Davis Children’s Hospital
10:30AM - 11:15AM
Neonatal Hypoglycemia in Practice: Research, Protocol Design, and RN-Driven Implementation
This session reviews current concepts and emerging research in neonatal hypoglycemia management and examines how evidence and frontline RN perspectives shaped the development of the PeaceHealth Riverbend Hypoglycemia Protocol. Participants will explore pre- and post-implementation outcomes, including benefits and challenges, and gain practical insights from real-world successes and lessons learned to inform effective protocol implementation and continuous improvement.
Learning Objectives:
Briefly discuss current concepts and research regarding hypoglycemia management in the Neonatal period.
To display how current research and RN opinions have informed the design of the PeaceHealth Riverbend Hypoglycemia protocol.
To share pre- and post-implementation data regarding effects and side effects of the PeaceHealth Riverbend Hypoglycemia protocol
Share stories about the successes and failures of an RN driven management protocol in order to understand how to improve implementation methods.
Presented by:
Casey Ward, M.D. - PeaceHealth Riverbend NICU