Vol. 29 No. 1 Winter 2016

neonatal
Vol. 29 No. 1
Winter 2016
INTENSIVE CARE
Interview
Hospital Benefits of Using the HALO Safer Way
to Sleep Program
®
In this feature, Neonatal Intensive Care interviews clinicians and healthcare providers
about the actual application of specific products and therapies. Participating in the
interview from Christiana Hospital is Pamela Jimenez, RN, MSN, FNP-BC/PNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner/Coordinator Continued Care Nursery, Infant Apnea Team.
Neonatal Intensive Care: When did you implement the HALO
Safer Way to Sleep Program at Christiana Hospital?
Pamela Jimenez: May 2013.
NIC: What was the impetus?
PJ: While attending the National SIDS conference in 2011, I met
Bill Schmid and learned of the HALO® SleepSack® wearable
blankets. Given that Delaware averages about 2-3 unsafe sleep
environment related deaths per month, I began to look at how
we model safe sleep practice within our own hospital.
NIC: Can you also share the steps you took to get the program
adopted at the hospital?
PJ: I began with tracking NICU sleep environments of all babies
who were in cribs and medically stable for a period of 6 months.
What I found were babies surrounded by rolls of blankets,
propped on their sides, the head of bed elevated and /or on their
belly. Although we do teach safe sleep, these behaviors were
not modeling safe sleep practice for parents. Following the
evaluation of data, over 204 parents previously discharged were
contacted to evaluate our safe sleep education. Surprisingly, over
75% were not following safe sleep practices but modeling nursing
behaviors. The most common comment noted was “If my nurse
in NICU did this, it must be ok.” Updated nursing education
reflecting the AAP 2011 safe sleep guidelines and recent data
regarding our own practices was shared. This provided an
opportunity to approach our Maternal Child service line about
joining forces with HALO to integrate their SleepSack wearable
blankets and SleepSack Swaddles into our safe sleep practice.
It took a great deal of networking between HALO and our
leadership team, but with the help of our data reflecting unsafe
sleep practices, we forged our relationship with HALO. Mother’s
Day 2013 marked our roll out the Safer Way to Sleep program.
Data collected after the implementation of the program utilizing
HALO SleepSacks, demonstrated a 100% improvement in the
NICU within the first month and most importantly, parents began
to seek out these safe sleep garments for their baby.
NIC: In what parts of the hospital is the program currently used?
PJ: Post-Partum, NICU and Pediatrics.
NIC: Do you know how many babies are touched by the program
each year?
PJ: Christiana delivers about 7,000 babies per year. All babies
If you would like to participate in this feature, as a company or healthcare
provider, please contact Steve Goldstien at s.gold4@verizon.net.
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Photo courtesy of Christiana Hospital.
following their first bath are placed in a HALO SleepSack
Swaddle. We also provide a take home program in which parents
are provided with a HALO SleepSack Swaddle for home use
along with safe sleep education during their stay and prior to
discharge.
NIC: Specifically how is the program implemented in the NICU
and what are the results?
PJ: All medically stable babies who are either acclimatizing to a
crib or are in cribs are now placed in HALO SleepSack wearable
blankets.
NIC: How does the program enable the staff to share important
safe sleep information with parents, and do you feel that the
“demonstration” of safe sleep on babies makes the information
easier for new parents to understand and replicate at home?
PJ: The HALO SleepSack wearable blankets open the window
for education with the families. Parents seek out the HALO
SleepSack wearable blankets and like the idea of their baby
being comfortable, warm and safe.
NIC: Does the program encourage more dialogue between
parents and the staff?
PJ: It does. However, it is a consistent message by all staff that is
important as different cultures or age groups still default to using
blankets and need continued education.
NIC: Why is it so important for you to have a take home program
neonatal INTENSIVE CARE Vol. 29 No. 1 Winter 2016
n
economic areas that provide HALO SleepSack wearable blankets
and education. We also participate in a variety of community
health fairs and partner with Cribs for Kids as a dispensing site
both in Maternal Child and the ED. As such, we have attained the
highest (gold) designation as a “Certified Safe Sleep Champion”
as part of the Cribs for Kids’ National Safe Sleep Hospital
Certification Program. In addition, we have a team that sits on
the state’s Safe Sleep task force to help bring education and
change to Delaware.
Photo courtesy of Christiana Hospital.
which provides each new parent with a HALO SleepSack
Swaddle to use at home?
PJ: I believe this reinforces what we are teaching here and
provides the same message for providing safe sleep for baby at
home.
NIC: Does Christiana Hospital do any safe sleep outreach to the
community at large?
PJ: Yes, our parent education department offers safe sleep as
part of their child birth classes; the NICU provides educational
programs as a part of discharge planning that includes safe
sleep, and we have community baby showers in our lower socio-
Safe sleep starts
with you.
Join the FREE HALO®
Safer Way to Sleep®
Wearable Blanket Program.*
As a healthcare professional, parents look
to you for the safest way to care for their
baby. When you wrap a newborn in a HALO®
SleepSack® Swaddle wearable blanket, you’re
teaching parents the proper way to ensure
safe sleep for their baby.
The HALO® SleepSack® Swaddle:
• The American Academy of Pediatrics
suggests the use of wearable blankets.
• Designed for in-hospital postpartum and
NICU use with easy access to monitor leads.
• Designed to meet the special requirements
for hospital laundries.
• Qualifies your hospital for the Cribs for Kids®
National Safe Sleep Certification Program.
To upgrade your blankets for FREE, call
888-999-HALO, visit HaloSleep.com/hospitals
or email safesleep@halosleep.com.
#1 Choice of Hospitals & Parents
*Some restrictions apply.
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