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