Sustained Improvement in the Performance of Rapid Sequence Intubation Five Years after a Quality Improvement Initiative.

Unlabelled: Many quality improvement interventions do not lead to sustained improvement, and the sustainability of healthcare interventions remains understudied. We conducted a time-series analysis to determine whether improvements in the safety of rapid sequence intubation (RSI) in our academic pediatric emergency department were sustained 5 years after a quality improvement initiative.

Methods: There were 3 study periods: baseline (April 2009-March 2010), improvement (July 2012-December 2013), and operational (January 2014-December 2018).

Pediatric emergency department discharge prescriptions requiring pharmacy clarification.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to analyze and classify reasons why retail pharmacies need to contact the pediatric emergency department (PED) for clarification on outpatient prescriptions generated using an electronic prescribing system and to categorize the severity of errors captured.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at a PED that cares for approximately 92,000 patients annually. All pharmacy callbacks documented in the electronic medical record between August 1, 2008 and July 31, 2009 were included.

An intervention to decrease narcotic-related adverse drug events in children's hospitals.

Objectives: Narcotic-related adverse drug events are the most common adverse drug events in hospitalized children. Despite multiple published studies describing interventions that decrease adverse drug events from narcotics, large-scale collaborative quality improvement efforts to address narcotic-related adverse drug events in pediatrics have not been described. The purpose of this study was to evaluate collaborative-wide narcotic-related adverse drug event rates after a collection of expert panel-defined best practices was implemented.

Pediatric emergency department overcrowding and impact on patient flow outcomes.

Background: Understanding the impact of overcrowding in pediatric emergency departments (PEDs) on quality of care is a growing concern. Boarding admitted patients in the PED and increasing emergency department (ED) visits are two potentially significant factors affecting quality of care.

Objectives: The objective was to describe the impact ED boarding time and daily census have on the timeliness of care in a PED.

Implementation of a medical emergency team in a large pediatric teaching hospital prevents respiratory and cardiopulmonary arrests outside the intensive care unit.

Objective: We implemented a medical emergency team (MET) in our free-standing children's hospital. The specific aim was to reduce the rate of codes (respiratory and cardiopulmonary arrests) outside the intensive care units by 50% for >6 months following MET implementation.

Design: Retrospective chart review and program implementation.

Reliability science and patient safety.

Reliability is failure-free operation over time--the measurable capability of a process, procedure, or service to perform its intended function. Reliability science has the potential to help health care organizations reduce defects in care, increase the consistency with which care is delivered, and improve patient outcomes. Based on its principles, the Institute for Health care Improvement has developed a three-step model to prevent failures, mitigate the failures that occur, and redesign systems to reduce failures.

New approaches to respiratory infections in children. Bronchiolitis and croup.

Croup is a disease that is commonly seen in children younger than the age of 6 years. The cause is viral, with parainfluenza viruses and RSV being the two most common pathogens. Treatment consists primarily of supportive care, and parents usually have tried humidification and cool air exposure before the child presents to the ED.