Best Practices for Transitioning from the Birthing Unit to the Mother–Infant Unit

Poster PresentationPurpose for the ProgramAs we sought to obtain Baby Friendly Hospital designation, we had the opportunity to evaluate our practices in transitioning women from the birthing unit to the mother/infant unit. We discovered two critical practices that were suboptimal and lacked supporting evidence for best patient outcomes: nurse‐to‐nurse hand‐off and the mother/infant admission process. To improve patient outcomes and satisfaction, our team recognized that these two practices were interdependent and required a synergistic problem solving approach for change.Proposed ChangeThe traditional practice of telephone hand‐off was time consuming, inefficient for nurses with multiple demands, did not engage the woman and family, and was not conducive to a seamless transition from one unit to another. Importantly, this transition process, which routinely separated well newborns from healthy postpartum mothers for admission care, had the potential to interfere with bonding and breastfeeding success. An interprofessional team led by the councils of the birthing and mother/infant units recognized the relationship between these processes and the need to align them with Baby Friendly and family‐centered care practices. They developed, implemented, and evaluated an evidence‐based practice project that transitioned the mother/infant dyad from the birthing unit to the postpartum room for admission care while integrating face‐to‐face interprofessional bedside hand�...

Source: Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing - June 4, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Marianne D. Bittle, Christie Forward, Maggie Power Tags: Newborn Care Source Type: research