Pregnant and Parenting Women's Experiences with Substance Use Disorder.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to describe and analyze the experience of women with substance use disorder during pregnancy and parenting to inform health care services that promote recovery. STUDY DESIGN: Interviews of pregnant or parenting women with substance use disorder were used in this qualitative descriptive study. METHODS: Participants were recruited from two recovery centers serving pregnant or parenting women with substance use disorder. Participants called a study cellphone to speak with the researchers about their substance use and recovery. Four independent reviewers conducted thematic analysis and were facilitated by Atlas.ti qualitative analysis program. RESULTS: N = 15 women called the study cellphone; 10 met inclusion criteria and were interviewed. Researchers coded 81 themes with the common occurrence of prior trauma, multiple substances used, stigma and judgment from others, and having children as a motivation to seeking recovery. Co-occurrence of themes of positive social support and the pursuit of recovery was identified. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Positive social support co-occurring with recovery supports the need for strengthened social support structures. Health care professionals should intentionally address the culture of caring for pregnant and parenting women with substance use disorder through education, practice, advocacy, and research.

Outcomes of mothers and newborns to prenatal exposure to kratom: a systematic review.

Kratom is a legal, widely available substance that contains opioid agonist alkaloids. Due to the marketing of kratom as an opioid alternative for treatment of pain, anxiety, depression, or to reduce opioid withdrawal symptoms, the use of kratom has increased among persons in the USA including pregnant women. This systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature regarding kratom in relation to maternal and infant outcomes resulted in analysis of six case reports of prenatal kratom exposure. Maternal and infant withdrawal from kratom exposure was described in each case, resulting in pharmacologic treatment for both mothers and infants.

Medical Neglect Allegations in the Context of Conflicted Divorce/Separation Child Custody: What Should the Health Care Provider Do?

Pediatricians and child health providers face with situation in which families disagree about recommended treatments. Managing these disagreements is more challenging during periods of divorce or separation particularly when parents are in dispute over custody or medical decision-making. Parental disagreement exists along a continuum. General principles apply 1) the worse the conflict, the worse the outcome for children, 2) when conflict is combined with other factors such as separation, the outcome is often worse, and 3) the pediatrician/primary health care provider can mitigate this. This manuscript provides a review of the subject and suggestions for the practicing provider.

LGBT Youth, Sex Trafficking, and the Nurse Practitioner's Role.

Sex trafficking is one of the most profitable forms of transnational crimes (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2018). Sex traffickers prey on vulnerable populations to commission these crimes. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth are subject to adversity from an early age, which leaves them especially vulnerable to sex traffickers. Health care providers lack the resources, education, protocols, and policies required to protect these youth members of society. This literature review explores LGBT youth's risk factors for becoming a trafficked child, a provider's role in protecting and treating these youth, the legalities of a provider reporting sex trafficking, and research opportunities pertinent to these issues.

Survey of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurses' Use of a Motion/Sound Infant Seat.

BACKGROUND: Perinatal substance exposure is an increasing concern in infants being cared for in neonatal intensive care units. Current recommendations support nonpharmacologic treatments for this population of infants. Multimodal (motion, sound) seats are often employed to soothe infants. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to survey neonatal intensive care unit nurses on their practices regarding the use of a motion/sound infant seat. METHODS: Sixty-six nurses (52% of 126 total nurses) completed the survey about their self-disclosed practices that included (1) reasons for use; (2) rationale for choice of settings of motion and sound; (3) duration of time infants spent in seat in one session; (4) perception of positive infant response; (5) who places infants in the seat; and (6) nursing instructions dispensed prior to use. RESULTS: Chief reasons for use were infant state, lack of persons to hold infants, and a diagnosis of neonatal abstinence syndrome. Rationale for choice of motion and sound settings included trial and error, prior settings, personal preferences/patterns, assumptions, and random selection. Nurse responses regarding the amount of time the infant was placed in the seat in a single session ranged from 10 to 360 minutes, with determining factors of infant cues, sleeping, feeding, and someone else to hold the infant. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: As nonpharmacologic treatments evolve, nurses need guidelines for safe, effective interventions to care for infants. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Further research is necessary to ascertain the responses of withdrawing infants and to establish guidelines and education for use of the motion/sound infant seat.

The Clinical Functional Impairment Scale Development.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the project was to review content validity and assess the span of responses for the newly developed Clinical Functional Impairment Scale (CFIS). METHODS: A cross-sectional, content validity process using focus groups of developmental, behavioral pediatric clinicians was conducted. After qualitative analysis of the focus group data, adjustments were made in the CFIS based on the recommendations of the content experts. A survey was conducted of clinicians participating in the online Society of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Discussion Board. Clinicians reviewed 2 case studies and used the CFIS to score severity and interval change of predetermined functional impairments. The amount of spread in the answers was assessed by calculating the index of dispersion. RESULTS: Qualitative analysis of the focus groups resulted in adjustment to the CFIS to 20 functional impairments, with a 5-point Likert scale of severity and a 7-point Likert scale of interval change. Ninety-four clinicians participated in the survey. The index of dispersion ranged from 0.49 to 0.88. The interval ratings of severity and interval change had lower dispersion ranges. CONCLUSION: The CFIS uses a mutual prioritization by the family and clinician of the child's functional impairments. The study demonstrated that the clinicians' ratings of the case studies were more variable in the initial symptom severity score than their ratings of symptom severity and interval change in symptoms. Further testing of the CFIS is planned using face-to-face clinical encounters and including parent/caregiver ratings of severity and interval change.

Prevention of transmitted infections in a pet therapy program: An exemplar.

The focus of the patient experience in health care delivery has afforded the opportunity to integrate pet therapy as a part of patient care. The purpose of this article is to present the implementation of a pet therapy program that includes guidelines for the prevention of transmitted infections. Consideration of infection prevention strategies has resulted in a 16-year program with no documented incidences of transmitted infections, averaging 20,000 pet therapy interactions per year.

Reasons for Refusal of Newborn Vitamin K Prophylaxis: Implications for Management and Education.

OBJECTIVE: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends intramuscular (IM) vitamin K prophylaxis for all newborns to prevent vitamin K deficiency bleeding. Given the serious implications of late-onset vitamin K deficiency bleeding, our objective was to examine factors influencing parents' decisions to refuse IM vitamin K prophylaxis. METHODS: Parents intending to refuse IM vitamin K prophylaxis at delivery were recruited from 5 community hospitals, 1 academic medical center, and 2 birthing centers in a single Southeastern state. Participants completed a written survey including demographics, birth and parenting decisions (eg, breastfeeding), and open-ended questions about their vitamin K information sources, concerns, and knowledge of risks. RESULTS: The incidence of refusal was highest at the birthing centers. Fifty-four parents intending to refuse IM vitamin K completed the survey. Most were white (78%), over age 30 (57%), and college graduates (65%). All reported intention to exclusively breastfeed. Most refused hepatitis B vaccine (90%) and erythromycin eye ointment (77%). The most common source of information was the Internet (70%). Concerns included synthetic or toxic ingredients (37%), excessive dose (28%), and side effects (24%). Eighty-three percent of parents reported awareness of risks associated with vitamin K refusal. However, only 6 parents (11%) decided to accept IM prophylaxis. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides an understanding of the concerns, mindset, and information sources used by parents refusing IM vitamin K. Educating parents about the importance of IM prophylaxis should begin in the prenatal period and must address concerns parents identify on the Internet.