President’s Message
Quality Care to Patients and Quality Service to Our MembersBy Sue Kost, MD
Once again, Fall brings a focus on quality to the SPS News. We hope that you find this issue interesting and useful as you strive to improve the provision of pediatric sedation at your own facility. Just as your clinical teams work to improve care to patients, our Society also works to improve the quality of service that we provide to our … [Read More...]
Committee News
SPS Quality and Safety Committee UpdateBy Cheri Landers, MD
This edition of the newsletter is the first of our ‘mission-subject-matter’ newsletters. Many thanks to Nicole Johnson for being willing to be the first to gather articles and ideas for this Quality and Safety themed edition! The Quality and Safety Committee is comprised of several smaller subcommittees or workgroups who work quietly and eff … [Read More...]
SPS Scholarly Grant Supports High Quality ProjectsBy Amber Rogers, MD, FAAP
Now starting its third year, the SPS Scholarly Grant supports pediatric sedation-related quality improvement projects, research activities, or educational (teaching) initiatives that aim to advance the mission of the Society. All SPS members are eligible to apply for up to $10,000 to fund projects that should be completed within a one-year … [Read More...]
Cautionary Tales
How Low Can You Go?
Steroid-Induced Bradycardia in Acute Lymphoblastic LeukemiaBy Sue Kost, MD
This cautionary tale has a bit of a different focus, in that the lesson I learned is not to be overly cautious in this particular situation. This case also points out, once again, that in our field one never stops learning. In my current, new-ish job, our service cares for more new-onset leukemia patients than my prior job. Accordingly, we provide … [Read More...]
Literature Review
Improving Efficiency and Communication Around Sedated Fracture Reductions in a Pediatric Emergency DepartmentReviewed by Megan Peters, MD
Paydar-Darian N et al. Pediatr Qual Saf 2019; 4:e135. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30937415/ Effecting major change while working within one small piece of a complex system is hard. This basic truth was reflected in the efforts undertaken by Dr Naloufar Paydar-Darian and her colleagues during the course of their pediatric emergency … [Read More...]
General Articles
Interview with a Sedation Center of Excellence
UHHospitals Rainbow Babies’ and Children’s HospitalBy Trish Scherrer, MD
For this year’s Fall newsletter focus on quality, we are fortunate to include an interview with Dr. Nicole Johnson and the sedation COE program at Rainbow Babies’ and Children’s Pediatric Sedation Unit (PSU). Rainbow has one of the oldest and most robust pediatric sedation units in the country, established and staffed by the division of pediatric c … [Read More...]
Pilot Study of a Primary and Secondary Prescreening Process for Sedated MRI Patients at Children’s Healthcare of AtlantaBy Christy Cory, BSN, RN, CPN
Prior to 2016, Children’s Hospital of Atlanta (CHOA) had a process in place for pre-screening patients who needed sedation for magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) which had schedulers ask a series of questions to parents. Due to the scheduler’s non-clinical background, extensive rescheduling of patients occurred. Data was then collected in search of … [Read More...]
Parental Presence During Sedated Tests or ProceduresBy Melissa Williams, RN, BSN, CPN, CMTE, EMT-B
As with everyone’s pediatric sedation program, safety is our #1 priority. Allowing parents to be present during a sedated test and/or procedure lends the perception that safety will be compromised for the patient. On the flip side, parents often feel unsure sending the child with a team of doctors and nurses who the parent or child do not know to … [Read More...]
Utilizing Databases in Sedation Quality ImprovementBy Abdallah Dalabih, MD, MBA
In recent years, clinicians have been dedicating more time and effort to developing quality programs that will assure safe and effective practice. The Society for Pediatric Sedation adopted the six principles of the Institute of Medicine conceptual framework for categorizing health care quality and disparities measurement: Effectiveness, Safety, … [Read More...]
