Sustainability of a best practice guideline for transitional care of the newborn: Secondary analysis

The purpose of this study was to review and analyze admission rates to the Intensive Care Nursery of a community hospital in Ontario following implementation of an evidence based practice guideline. Sustainability of practice changes resulted from the implementation of the Transition of the Healthy Newborn: Guideline for Care document (Appendix A) was examined. King's systems conceptual framework was used.; A descriptive design utilizing secondary analysis of admission data obtained from previously collected admission rates to an Intensive Care Nursery over a three year period was used to compare the percentages of admissions prior to and after the implementation of the guideline. Comparisons of variance and range were also included. The results revealed that there was a decrease of admission rates to Intensive Care Nursery from both the Birthing Suite Unit and the Maternal Child Unit totaling a combined rate of 10.2 percent. This evidence based practice change has been sustainable over the period of the study.