Follow-up after a failed newborn hearing screen: a quality improvement study.

Objective: Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) has been implemented for several decades to screen for congenital hearing loss; however, the lost to follow-up (LFU) rate for newborns with a failed screen is nearly 50%. Many studies have examined risk factors rendering infants susceptible to being LFU, but there are no quality improvement studies using evidence-based practice that aim to improve follow-up rates. This study utilized a nurse practitioner (NP) to provide a teaching intervention to educate parents on recommended follow-up after a failed hearing screen, including the Healthy People 2020 objectives.