Caregiving for Interstage Infants: A Continuous Process of Compromise During the Pandemic.

Infants born with single ventricle heart disease require in-home medicalized care during the interstage period (time between the first and second staged heart surgery). These caregivers rely on extended family, friends, and hired caretakers to provide respite time. However, the coronavirus pandemic removed these families' options due to stay-at-home and social distancing directives.

Developing a sense of self-reliance: caregivers of infants with single-ventricle heart disease during the interstage period.

Background: Caring for infants after the first-stage palliative surgery for single-ventricle heart disease bring challenges beyond the usual parenting responsibilities. Current studies fail to capture the nuances of caregivers' experiences during the most critical "interstage" period between the first and second surgery.

Objectives: To explore the perceptions of caregivers about their experiences while transitioning to caregiver roles, including the successes and challenges associated with caregiving during the interstage period.

Having to Be the One: Mothers Providing Home Care to Infants With Complex Cardiac Needs.

Background: Early diagnosis of complex congenital heart disease and advances in surgical interventions have resulted in remarkable improvements in prognoses and hospital survival. Although studies have provided insight into children's experiences with complex congenital heart disease after hospitalization, few have addressed parents' experiences providing care for infants with complex congenital heart disease who are discharged home with complex care needs after surgical palliation.

Objectives: To describe the perceptions and lived experiences of mothers of infants who were discharged from the hospital after surgery for complex congenital heart disease but were then readmitted to the hospital.

Safety, Efficacy, and Timeliness of Intravenous Potassium Chloride Replacement Protocols in a Pediatric Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit.

Objective: Hypokalemia in children following cardiac surgery occurs frequently, placing them at risk of life-threatening arrhythmias. However, renal insufficiency after cardiopulmonary bypass warrants careful administration of potassium (K). Two different nurse-driven protocols (high dose and tiered dosing) were implemented to identify an optimal K replacement regimen, compared to an historical low-dose protocol.

Cardiac surgical nurses' use of atrial electrograms to improve diagnosis of arrhythmia.

Background: The practice standard for electrocardiographic monitoring in hospitals recommends use of atrial electrograms after cardiac surgery to help diagnose cardiac arrhythmias.

Objectives: To determine whether use of atrial electrograms significantly improves nurses' ability to diagnose cardiac arrhythmias and to assess nurses' perceptions of the ease of obtaining and interpreting electrograms, the frequency of use of atrial electrograms, and the correlation between nurses' experience with the technique and arrhythmia scores.

Methods: In total, 282 nurses completed a test consisting of 5 electrocardiographic rhythms for which use of atrial electrograms might improve interpretation.

Hand hygiene adherence is influenced by the behavior of role models.

Objective: Proper hand hygiene (HH) reduces nosocomial infections. Therefore, factors that influence HH behavior of healthcare workers are of great interest. We hypothesized that strict HH adherence by supervisor role models would improve the HH behavior of junior staff.