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Who is performing medical procedures in the neonatal intensive care unit?

Journal of Perinatology volume 31, pages 206–211 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

Owing to resident work-hour reductions and more permanent personnel in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU), we sought to determine if pediatric housestaff are missing learning opportunities in procedural training due to non-participation.

Study Design:

A prospective, observational study was conducted at an academic NICU using self-reported data from neonatal personnel after attempting 188 procedures on 109 neonates, and analyzed using Fisher's exact and χ2-tests.

Result:

Housestaff first attempted 32% of procedures (P<0.001) and were less likely to make attempts early in the academic year (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in attempts based on urgency of situation (P=0.742). Of procedures performed by non-housestaff personnel, 93% were completed while housestaff were present elsewhere in the unit.

Conclusion:

Pediatric housestaff performed the minority of procedures in the NICU, even in non-urgent situations, and were often uninvolved in other procedures, representing missed learning opportunities.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part by T32 HD07094.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Y F Gozzo, C L Cummings, R L Chapman, M J Bizzarro & M R Mercurio

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Y F Gozzo, C L Cummings, R L Chapman, M J Bizzarro & M R Mercurio

  3. Pediatric Ethics Program, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    C L Cummings & M R Mercurio

Authors
  1. Y F Gozzo
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  2. C L Cummings
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  3. R L Chapman
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  4. M J Bizzarro
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  5. M R Mercurio
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Correspondence to C L Cummings.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Gozzo, Y., Cummings, C., Chapman, R. et al. Who is performing medical procedures in the neonatal intensive care unit?. J Perinatol 31, 206–211 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2010.121

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2010.121

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