In November 2014, the Department of Pediatrics established the multidisciplinary Clinical Practice Council (CPC). The CPC, currently led by Elizabeth Flanigan, MD, MPH, Lise Johnson, MD, and Julie Cadogan, MSN, RNC-NIC, CNL, is compromised of leaders of the various disciplines caring for newborns and their families across the Center for Women and Newborns at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The aim of the CPC is to facilitate the development of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and policies (CPPs) that are uniformly excellent and evidence-based, and to support the implementation and analysis of these guidelines within our complex clinical setting.
The CPGs are developed by multidisciplinary guideline development groups who have an interest and expertise in a specific clinical topic. Once this group has written the initial draft of the CPG, it is reviewed by the CPC and if approved, it is circulated with the entire clinical team as part of our staff review process. During the staff review, feedback from all care providers who will be using the CPG in practice is welcomed. This feedback is assessed by the guideline development group and when appropriate, incorporated into the document. We have found that the staff review process has significantly improved the development and implementation of our CPGs.
Once the final CPG is ready for implementation, the CPC works with the leaders in clinical administration and education to determine a “go-live” date and communicate any changes in practice that will result from the new CPG. The communication plan includes updates at faculty and staff meetings, change-of-shift shared announcements, and information in the monthly Brigham Baby News newsletter. All of the guidelines are posted on the departmental Intranet site, which is organized by system for easy access to the clinical team. In addition, respiratory policies, drug administration guidelines (DAGs), or any nursing policy, procedure, and guidelines that are related to the CPGs are linked to the document.
Learn more about the Clinical Practice Council and the process of clinical practice guideline development.
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