A rounding system to enhance patient, parent, and neonatal nurse interactions and promote patient safety

Abstract

Comfort rounds, an approach to assessing and meeting the needs of patients and families in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), was created based on nursing rounds. The purpose of comfort rounds is to provide information to parents and assess and enhance the neonate's comfort and safety. I describe a comfort rounds process that was implemented through presentations, huddles, and discussions and was validated through parent comments, employee documentation, and an increase in patient satisfaction scores.