Concerning the STABLE Program...
In reference to the
S.T.A.B.L.E. Program ...
Our Level III NICU in Southwest Georgia was a perinatal center responsible for transporting patients into us from 13 surrounding counties.
We had a nurse who was our Outreach Coordinator whose job it was to help keep relations smooth and operating efficiently between our hospital and all the smaller outlying hospitals.
The Outreach Coordinator worked hand in hand with our Transport Team Coordinator who was also an RN.
The two of them would go together to the outlying hospitals and teach the S.T.A.B.L.E. Course to the employees at these small hospitals. (They were also NRP Instructors and would re-certify physicians and other NRP Providers at the small hospitals.)
Of the hospitals that delivered babies, only one of them had a Special Care Nursery and none had a NICU. They only cared for well babies or feeders-n-growers. When a baby became sick or was born with problems, they often were at a loss as to how to care for and stabilize them during the time it took for them to contact us and us to get to their hospital to transport the baby to us. Some of our hospitals only delivered babies in emergency situations, so you can imagine how poor their baby skills were.
Unfortunately they could not recognize hypoglycemia, or if they did, they'd give the wrong amount of D10. Babies would often be freezing causing more problems. They might have a ventillator but they never used it more than once a year or so; this sometimes caused more problems as you could imagine... can you say "pneumo"? Labs and other pertinent prenatal information would not be available, etc.
When this S.T.A.B.L.E. Program came to us and we were able to implement it, we saw an incredible increase in the proper stabilization of the babies when we'd get there to pick them up! Prenatal records would be complete and in a folder along with L&D records, labs done, x-rays done, etc. We were able to load up the baby quickly, take it to Mom for a quick peek and to introduce ourselves and give her some literature, phone numbers, etc. and be on our way with the baby. The employees at these hospitals felt wonderful that they now had the resources they needed to do their job well. They were empowered and it showed in many ways, most importantly in the health of the babies and the emotional support given to the Mom and family that had to come to our hospital later after Mom's recovery.
This is an example of how I've personally seen S.T.A.B.L.E. work in practice and I very, very highly recommend it.
We also made sure our Mother-Baby Unit nurses were instructed in the S.T.A.B.L.E. Course too. Any nursing or EMT employee was welcome to attend too.
It's a wonderful program and has found it's niche in many applications.
Warmly,
Anaclaire
Nursing News