by nicunana

Do any of you offer classes on Infant safety prior to discharge? We would like to develop a class that would include back to sleep, shaken baby, immunizations & home safety. Are you using any videos that address any of these topics? The idea for the classes is twofold;
1. To assist the bedside nurse by reducing her teaching load.
2. To insure that all parents are being taught the same.
It just seems that with so many more demands that are being made on the nurses everyday, that anything we can do to lighten the load will be a step in the right direction.
My goal is to have these classes up & running by the end of the year.
Thanks for any help you can provide, or for pointing me in the right direction.
Thanks!

Re: Infant Safety classes

We tried classes, but couldn't get enough parents to attend to make it worth the out of staffing time. We use videos at the bedside, most of which we have received from the march of dimes. We have carseat safety, CPR, immunizations and newborn screens. Our normal nursery has basic baby classes that we send the moms to and their instructor signs the sheets off. Good Luck!

Re: Infant Safety classes

same here...we have this touch screen laptop on a cart with wheels that parents watch the videos at the bedside. Plus it keep tabs on each patients parent who receive the educational info. I'll find out more on what this system is called. So much better than having to roll that big ol' tv and having to rewind all 3 vhs tapes.

Re: Infant Safety classes

We looked at that too...but it was wayyyy out of our budget! It was so nice though...I can't remember it's name.

Re: Infant Safety classes

We have infant care classes that go over everything involved in the care of a infant that goes home and the instructors try to change the education for the parents involved if possible. The instructors are staff nurses that are approved by management. We also have CPR classes that are instructed by staff nurses that are certified. The instructors do the classes as staffing allows, if the can not have an assignment or be covered by the resource nurse for the class. The March of Dimes does car seat classes.

Re: Infant Safety classes

We actually have discharge nurses who do classes several times a week. They make a folder full of goodies like pamphlets, refrigerator magnets with emergency numbers and etc. Classes are held in our conference room. Each class is usually small with just a few parents so there is one on one teaching. They go over basic CPR and have models for the parents to practice on. They do private lessons if the baby is going home with a G tube or something. They also have baby dolls with G tubes and trachs to let the parents practice before actually practising on their child. This really helps their comfort level. Our classes are well attended (and we don't have the most compliant population generally). Most parents see it as a step towards getting home so it is a positive thing. Part of our orientation for new nurses is to spend a day with the discharge nurses so we understand the role. Of course the classes don't replace bedside teaching but it really helps. All we have to do is reinforce the information.