Embedding best transfusion practice and blood management in neonatal intensive care.

Background: Transfusion is a common procedure for neonates receiving intensive care management. Recognising a paucity of patient blood management (PBM) programmes in neonates, we aimed to embed blood management and best transfusion principles in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) by aligning local policies, providing targeted education and partnering with parents.

Methods: Practice-based evidence for clinical practice improvement (PBE-CPI) methodology was used.

Cautionary tales from the neonatal intensive care unit: diapers may mislead urinary output estimation in extremely low birthweight infants.

Objective: To examine the validity of the weighing of modern polyacrylate diapers to determine urine output in the extremely low birth weight infant nursed in a humidified incubator.

Design: Observational study with repeated measures using high-absorbency cellulose/polyacrylate diapers and a humidified incubator in a modeled clinical scenario.

Setting: A tertiary referral neonatal intensive care unit.