Included in this post are 3 practice questions. Please send your response to the author of the question. By replying to these questions we help to provide a broad practice base for the care of pediatric and adult patients with Congenital Heart Disease. Because SPCN is an International Organization the your responses provide a wealth of information!
QUESTION on the development of thermoregulation guidelines:
We are interested in revising our thermoregulation guidelines for Giraffe and infant warmer bed use. In order to identify the most common cut-point parameters being used to determine the need for these specialty beds, please answer the following questions.
1. Under what weight do you place the infant in a Giraffe?
2. Under what gestational age do you place in the infant in a Giraffe?
3. At what weight is the infant eligible for coming out of the Giraffe?
4. At what gestational age is the infant eligible for coming out of the Giraffe?
5. Does the infant have to achieve other goals in order to come out of the Giraffe such as maintain temperature, or gain a certain amount of weight over x amount of time, medically stable? If so, what are they?
6. Do you have parameters for using an infant warmer bed? If so, what are they?
7. When do you place infants in an open crib?
8. Do you following your NICU guidelines for infant specialty bed use?
9. If so, do you think these parameters apply to infants with cardiac disease?
10. If the answer to #9 is no, why not?
Please send responses to Lisa Kohr at
Thank you for sharing your expertise and time! Lisa
QUESTION to identify sites for research project on adults with percutaneous closure of ASDs:
Approximately how many adult patients had closure of their ASD percutaneously in your cath lab within the last 12 months?
I can be contacted via email: or phone 312-942-9615.
Thank you so much, Mary Heitschmidt RN, APN, PhD (c), CCRN
QUESTION to develop protocols for DVT Prevention:
1. What kind of a hospital do you work at?
a. Standing Children’s Hospital
b. Children’s floor within an institution, such as a University Hospital
2. Do you have a standard of practice for DVT prevention?
3. If you do have a guideline or policy what is it?
a. Do you commonly use stocking
b. At what point do you use sequential/pneumatic devices
c. Do you use anti thrombolytic medications
4. At what age do you initiate these practices?
5. Are there some diagnoses that would make you more aware than others in terms of DVTS?
6. Is DVT prevention automatic standard of practice or do you need a provider order for it?
7. Do patients commonly come out of the OR with stockings/SED’s in place or do they need to be applied after surgery once patient arrives on unit?
RESPOND TO:Emily F. Moore, ARNP, PNP Seattle Children’s Hospital
Thank you in advance for your help! Emily