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.