Standardized nCPAP Care Bundle to Decrease Days to Wean off nCPAP: A Quality Improvement Initiative

Background: Effective bubble nasal continuous positive airway pressure (bnCPAP) implementation is a means to maintain functional residual capacity (FRC) and avoid pulmonary morbidities in neonates. Purpose: A quality improvement project was introduced to establish a standardized bnCPAP care bundle. Methods: A bnCPAP care bundle focusing on shoulder roll use, bnCPAP positioning, assessment for suctioning need, and nasopharynx suctioning was created. The outcome measures collected were percentage of time the infant's pulse saturation was less than 86%, corrected gestational age (CGA) when off bnCPAP, length of time a neonate is on bnCPAP, Downes' score, and compliance to bnCPAP care bundle. Results: An independent-samples t test found a statistically significant higher mean prior to the initiative in the percentage of time the oxygen saturation was less than 86%, Downes' score, length of time, and CGA to wean off bnCPAP (M = 11.7% ± 10.1%, M = 1.6 ± 1.1, M = 27.7 days ± 29.0 days, and M = 35.0 weeks ± 3.38 weeks, respectively) than after the initiative (M = 4.0% ± 4.8%, M = 1.1 ± 0.8, M = 11.2 days ± 10.2 days, and M = 32.8 weeks ± 1.00 weeks, respectively). Implications for Practice and Research: Implementing a standardized bnCPAP care bundle showed improvement in oxygen saturation and increased success of weaning off bnCPAP. Future studies to increase the collected data are needed to compare the outcomes on infants born at each gestational age.