Implementation Strategies Used to Reduce Unplanned Extubations in the Neonatal ICU | Respiratory Care
Background: Unplanned extubation (UE) is the premature or unintended removal of an artificial airway and can cause worse patient outcomes. Study objectives were to describe implementation strategies used to reduce UE in the Hospital for Sick Children neonatal ICU (NICU) and their influence on UE rates, and contributing factors and patient characteristics of infants who had an UE, and compare them between the biological sexes. We hypothesized that the boys would experience more UEs and worse outcomes compared to the girls. Methods: The single-center retrospective cohort study included all infants who experienced UE (2007–2019). Outcomes consisted of implementation reduction strategies developed by using the plan-do-study-act quality-improvement methodology and UE characteristics, including patient (eg, sex, length of stay) and unplanned extubation situation characteristics (eg, events and/or procedures, repeats). Five plan-do-study-act cycles were implemented. Analyses included text sum
