PC1257: Safe Sleep Education Initiative

Purpose/Objectives: Purpose

While New Jersey’s Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) rate of 0.5 per 1000 live births during 2018–2019 was one of the lowest in the U.S., Essex County’s rate of 1.0 during 2018–2019 was double. And for Black non-Hispanic infants in Newark, the rate of 2.7 during 2015–2019 was five times more.

Our Hospital, located in Newark, serves predominantly Black populations from among the poorest cities in Essex County, which experience disproportional disparities in social & health determinants and healthcare. During 2015–2019, 38% of NJ’s Black non-Hispanic SUID cases occurred in the four poorest cities we serve.

SUID is associated with unsafe sleep practices, including sleeping prone and bed-sharing, and other factors such as exposure to smoking, formula-feeding, pre-term birth, and, most importantly, discrimination and healthcare disparities.

Safe sleep practices, which are effective tools that caregivers can implement immediately, have a powerful and protective impact to reduce SUID, and can be taught to families in the Newborn Nursery (NN). Given the ubiquity of smartphones, we incorporated their novel use in the education of parents, in partnership with The SIDS Center of New Jersey (SCNJ), a community organization.

Objectives

• To educate 100% of NN Nurses and support staff about safe sleep practices using a new methodology by October 2020.

• To increase the education of parents using the new methodology and to improve adherence to safe sleep practices in the NN to 80% by April 2021.

Design/Methods: Our multidisciplinary team included Hospitalists, Nurse leaders, Nurses, Residents, and SCNJ, and performed the following tasks:
• Created a QR code for downloading the free SIDS Info App, featuring informational videos on SUID in English/Spanish
• Created Tags, worn by Nurses, showing QR codes for SIDS Info and Breastfeeding Apps
• Created a visual Process Map for SUID education
• Audited 70 charts over 2 months as control
• Created an Audit Tool to monitor Education
• Audited ~35 patient families/month
• SCNJ provided
• Netlearning Educational Modules
• SIDS Info App
• Educational Flyers
• Onesies with safe sleep messaging

Results: By October 2020, we educated 100% of Nurse Educators, 96% of Nurses, 100% of Nurse’s Aides and 97% of Pediatric Residents.

By April 2021, over 85% of Families received Onesies and Educational Cards, and viewed SIDS Info app videos.

Conclusion/Discussion: We achieved improved compliance with safe sleep practices in the NN through education of staff and parents, which translate to improved safe sleep practices used by parents at home.

We hope to spread our methods of education through all the hospitals in our system.

We will add a QR Code for Android phones to the Tags.

We hope to refer eligible patients to Community Resources, which will help improve SUID outcomes.