A Preliminary Assessment of the Effects of Pharmacist-Driven Methadone Stewardship for the Treatment of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome at a Tertiary Children's Hospital.

Objective: Lack of a standardized opioid wean guideline for the treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) has the potential to increase the length of the wean and subsequently the length of stay for neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a pharmacist-driven methadone stewardship program for NAS treatment.

Methods: The NAS stewardship program consisted of provider, pharmacist, and nursing education, a pharmacy surveillance system rule, and an updated clinical practice guideline.

Achieving Vancomycin Troughs Within Goal Range in Low Birth Weight Neonates.

Objective: Vancomycin is commonly used in the neonatal population to treat Gram-positive bacterial infections. Despite frequent use, consensus on the ideal dosing regimen in low birth weight (LBW) neonates is lacking. The objective of this research is to determine how frequently vancomycin troughs within goal range (10-20 mg/L) are achieved with empiric dosing in critically ill neonates and infants weighing less than 2500 g.