Background: Skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) is a common pediatric diagnosis with substantial economic cost. SSTIs vary in severity and clinical presentation. Providers often fear missing serious systemic infection, causing potential overtesting. However, recent studies suggest that blood cultures (BCx) are not useful in management of simple cellulitis or abscess (uncomplicated SSTIs [uSSTI]), and [...]

Background: Nationally, the number of adult patients (18+ years of age) with chronic congenital and childhood conditions being admitted to children’s hospitals has been increasing, and in some cases outpacing the rate of increase in pediatric admissions. This is secondary to advances in treatment of once-fatal conditions. Our institution is a quaternary referral center with [...]

Background: Transition from the inpatient to outpatient setting presents a safety risk to pediatric patients. Project IMPACT (Improving Pediatric Patient-Centered Care Transitions) is a multi-site quality improvement collaborative developed to improve the hospital to home transition for pediatric patients using a transition bundle. One bundle element is the use of teach-back (TB) to confirm caregiver [...]

Background: Inconsistent transitions of care from the inpatient to outpatient setting may lead to preventable readmissions. Critical processes completed at discharge shown to reduce readmissions at our institution include admission and discharge medication reconciliation, clinically appropriate follow-up scheduled prior to discharge, and timely completion of a discharge summary within 48 hours of discharge (the “Core [...]

Background: In utero opioid exposure can result in neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). NAS incidence has increased five-fold in the last decade. NAS is a serious condition characterized by central nervous system hyperirritability and autonomic nervous system and gastrointestinal tract dysfunction. Newborns with NAS may have several potential complications, may require pharmacological management, have increased hospital [...]

Background: Discharge education is a key component of safe transition from inpatient to outpatient care in the pediatric population. Project IMPACT (Improving Pediatric Patient-Centered Care Transitions) is a multi-site quality improvement project developed to improve care transitions for pediatric patients using a transition bundle. One bundle element focuses on thorough discharge education (DE) and the [...]

Case Presentation: A previously healthy five-year-old boy presented with forehead swelling in the setting of a recent sinus infection. His initial symptoms were fever and nasal congestion for which he was prescribed a 10-day course of cefdinir, completed three days prior to admission. After finishing the antibiotic, he developed unsteady gait, photophobia, headache, vomiting, and [...]