Kangaroo Care for Hospitalized Infants with Congenital Heart Disease.
Amy Jo Lisanti, Alessandra Buoni, Megan Steigerwalt and 3 others
PMID 31977496WHAT IT FOUND
Kangaroo care was initiated 43 times with 14 infants during an eight-week engagement initiative, with no adverse events reported.
Nurses described positive experiences, but patient outcomes were not measured.
Key findings
01Twenty-six nurses initiated Kangaroo care 43 times with 14 patients over an eight-week period.
02No adverse events were reported as a result of infants being held by their parents in Kangaroo care.
03The project did not directly measure patient outcomes or hemodynamic stability.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted in a single cardiac center with a small sample of 14 patients, limiting generalizability. No baseline data on Kangaroo care incidence prior to the intervention were available because documentation fields did not previously exist. Patient outcomes, including hemodynamic stability, were not directly measured; nurse reports of improved vitals are anecdotal. The impact of the quality improvement project cannot be separated from the concurrent research study led by the same nurse scientist. The short duration (eight weeks) means sustainability of the practice change is unknown.
Declared interests
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret nurse reports of improved vitals or the lack of adverse events as proof that Kangaroo care improves clinical outcomes in infants with congenital heart disease. Patient outcomes were not measured, and the sample size was too small to draw safety conclusions.