An Evidence-Based Practice Project to Provide Standardized Education on Skin-to-Skin Contact and Neonatal Hypoglycemia.

Objective: To develop and examine the implications of formalized education with staff and familial caregivers on skin-to-skin in relation to neonatal hypoglycemia, including the impact on NICU admission rate, exclusive breastfeeding, and glucose gel administration.

Design: Evidence-based practice (EBP) project with a comparison of data pre-/postintervention.

Setting/local Problem: Implemented at a large health system in the mid-Atlantic, including four hospitals with postpartum care units. The EBP implementation site had approximately 19,400 births in 2021.

Participants: Participants included 320 postpartum nurses in addition to the familial neonatal caregivers these nurses provided care for.

Intervention/measurement: All team members were provided with online education via the HealthStream learning platform, a microlearning introduction video, weekly huddle messages, and unit-specific champions who shared a champion information sheet that included information such as the hypoglycemia protocol, how to perform safe skin-to-skin care, and how to effectively administer glucose gel. Familial caregiver education included a handout given upon admission with an explanation from the postpartum nurse if the neonate met the criteria for the hospital system's neonatal hypoglycemia protocol.

Results: We observed a 4% system-wide increase in exclusive breastfeeding rates, a decrease in NICU admissions by 17.3% at 1-month postimplementation at the smallest hospital site (Hospital A), and a 12.3% reduction in NICU admission rates at the largest hospital site (Hospital B). Two hospitals reported a decrease in the need for glucose gel administration to neonates after the educational intervention.

Conclusion: This nurse-led project detailed the process of a system-wide EBP project to implement consistent and standardized education regarding neonatal protocols. Although the benefits of skin-to-skin contact are widely known, this project demonstrated that focused, targeted education on skin-to-skin protocols for neonates at risk for neonatal hypoglycemia may be effective at improving outcomes.