Sustained Reduction of Nasal Pressure Injuries in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit With the Use of Bubble Continuous Positive Airway Pressure

The purpose of this interprofessional team-driven quality improvement project was to implement a Bubble continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) Skincare Protocol proactively to prevent potential device-related pressure injuries.The setting was a level 3, 60-bed single patient room neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) located within a Midwest urban academic medical center with more than 200 healthcare providers. Prior to the beginning of this project, the NICU had been using the CPAP apparatus that had documented 6 nasal pressure injuries over a 6-month period. Because of ease of use, the NICU moved to using Bubble CPAP (BCPAP), which is known to place patients at a higher risk of nasal pressure injuries due to the way the apparatus sits inside the nares.An evidence-based practice model provided the guiding framework for the development of our BCPAP Skincare Protocol. Knowing that the unit had already documented nasal pressure injuries, the interprofessional-devised protocol was developed to decrease the risk of nasal injuries with the use of BCPAP in premature infants. The protocol was disseminated via an all-healthcare provider educational program.During the first 3 months postprotocol implementation period, one stage 2 nasal injury was noted and immediately treated and healed without incident. During the next 24-month, postimplementation period, there were zero nasal pressure injuries reported.The healthcare providers found that using an interprofessional team approach in developing and implementing an evidence-based BCPAP Skincare Protocol reduced the incidence of nasal pressure injuries associated with the use of BCPAP in the NICU.