On March 22 and 23, nearly a hundred professionals from the nation’s top NICU teams joined forces at Woman’s Hospital to discuss the latest advancements in caring for micro-premature infants at the annual Vermont Oxford Network (VON) meeting. VON is a international collaboration of more than 1,200 hospitals from around the world dedicated to improving the quality, safety, and care for newborn infants through data-driven outcomes, education and research.
“Our goal is to advance the care of the smallest babies; those born between 22 and 26 weeks of pregnancy. By sharing our collective works from our colleagues around the world, we can send these fragile babies home with the least number of complications and reduce a lifetime of special needs,” says Laurel Kitto, MSN, RNC-NIC, Woman’s Hospital NICU Director. Woman’s has been a member of the VON collaborative since the mid 90’s.
Woman’s NICU team hosted 2 intensive days of lectures on family support in the NICU, Perinatal Palliative care and infant driven feeding journey, and immersed in resuscitation simulations, surgical and recovery room experiences, and the benefits of individual NICU rooms for baby and family. A noteworthy feature of the conference was a parent panel of graduate NICU babies that shared their experiences and challenges before, during and after their NICU stay.
2019 VON attendees included NICU teams from Akron Children’s (Ohio), Advocate Children’s (Illinois), Carle Foundation (Illinois), Mission Children’s (Pennsylvania), Overland Park Regional Medical (Kansas), Regional One (Tennessee), St. Luke’s (Pennsylvania), Swedish Hospital (Washington), The Woman’s Hospital of Texas and Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge.
Micro-premature baby resuscitation simulation
Micro-premature baby resuscitation simulation
2019 Vermont Oxford Network attendees