Title : Zeroing in on NICU infections: Quality improvement strategies for safer neonatal care

Why infections remain a challenge in the NICU 
o    Burden and outcomes of neonatal infections 
o    Modifiable versus non-modifiable risk factors

Identifying infection risks in your NICU 
o    Central lines and CLABSI 
o    Ventilator-associated infections 
o    Hand hygiene 
o    Environmental and equipment-related risks 
o    Antibiotic practices

Building a NICU infection-prevention bundle 
o    Central-line insertion and maintenance bundles 
o    Line necessity and daily review 
o    Aseptic technique 
o    Skin preparation 
o    Hand hygiene and PPE

Quality improvement methodology 
o    Baseline measurement 
o    SMART aims 
o    PDSA cycles 
o    Audit and feedback 
o    Run charts/control charts

Creating a culture of safety 
o    Multidisciplinary team involvement 
o    Nursing engagement 
o    Standardisation and checklists 
o    Leadership support

Measuring success 
o    Infection rates per 1,000 line-days 
o    Device utilisation 
o    Hand-hygiene compliance 
o    Antibiotic utilisation 
o    Balancing measures

Practical case study 
o    Give learners a hypothetical NICU with rising CLABSI rates 
o    Ask them to identify the problem and design a QI intervention 
o    Show the results after PDSA cycles

An especially strong angle for your course would be to make it less of a conventional infection-control lecture and more of a “How to actually reduce infection rates in your NICU” course, using real-world NICU scenarios and QI tools. That would make it much more useful for practicing clinicians.

Dr Monika Kaushal Qualifications: FRCPCH S Diploma Neonatology Southampton university UK Fellowship from the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, UK. DM in Neonatology from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India. Masters in Pediatrics from PGIMER, India. MBBS from SNMC Jodhpur Designation: Consultant Neonatologist and Head of department of neonatology Emirates Hospital DHCC President elect IAP Neonatology chapter UAE Secretary NNF chapter UAE Publications and faculty in conferences: Various publications in National and International Journals. Faculty in various national and international conferences Chapter in Protocol book of neonatology by IAP Chapter in IAP book of OSCE in Neonatology Chapter in IAP book of Atlas in neonatology Prepared educational videos on kangaroo mother care, infection prevention, TPN preparation Editor of Indian Journal of Child Health, Al Azhar medical journal Member of Editorial Board of Journal of Neonatology. Started fellowship in Neonatology in UAE affiliated to IAP and NNF Active faculty of ONTOP run by AIIMS New Delhi for nurse sand residents Facilitated the establishment of first overseas NNF branch in UAE Course director of simulation program running in NMC royal hospital simulation lab Abu Dhabi Selected as executive member in emirates journal