The TcB-TSB program reduced nurses' time to screen and provided immediate results at the point of care. Transcutaneous bilirubinometry reduced the requirement for painful heel pokes while improving access to screening and decreasing the overall program cost.

Shorter length of stay for postpartum mothers and their newborns necessitates careful community follow-up after hospital discharge. The vast amount of information given during the initial postpartum period can be overwhelming. New parents often need considerable support to understand the nuances of newborn care including newborn feeding. Primary health care and community services need to ensure there is a seamless continuum of care to support, empower, and educate new mothers and their families to prevent unnecessary hospital readmission and other negative health outcomes. The Healthy & Home postpartum community nursing program provides clinical communication and supports to bridge the gap between acute hospital and community follow-up care through home visits, a primary health care clinic, a breastfeeding center, a breastfeeding café, a postpartum anxiety and depression support group, bereavement support, and involvement in a Baby-Friendly Initiative™ coalition. Nurses working in the program have the acute care skills and resources to complete required health care assessments and screening tests. They are also international board-certified lactation consultants able to provide expert breastfeeding and lactation care. This paper describes how the Healthy & Home program has evolved over the past 25 years and offers suggestions to other organizations wanting to develop a postpartum program to meet the physical and mental health needs of postpartum families to promote maternal and infant wellbeing.

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Background Transcutaneous (TcB) meters support clinical decision making at point-of-care, reduces nurses’ time to screen, decreases the frequency of painful blood draws and minimizes health care costs. Best practice for TcB screening is unknown and international guidelines vary. Meter bias may result in over- or underestimation of TSB in a Canadian population. The Canadian Paediatric Society suggests screening between 24 and by 72 hours of age and reducing total serum bilirubin (TSB) action thresholds by the 95th confidence interval of the meter. To support point-of-care decision making, a tertiary center and community follow-up program uses universal screening and follow-up protocols. ​ Objectives The aim of this analysis is to develop a locally validated TcB nomogram with action thresholds based on age and risk for clinical use at point-of-care. ​ Design/Methods This prospective cross-sectional study includes newborns ≥35 weeks gestation <14 days old requiring TSB sampling in hospital or community and 13 JM-105 meters. Participants are included if TcB reading ranges from 1-340µmol/L (0.1-20.0 mg/dL) and TSB is collected within 1 hour of TcB measurement. TSB samples are analyzed using Roche™ Bilirubin Total Gen.3. To measure how close the TcB reading is to TSB, the difference is found by subtracting TSB from mean TcB. Lin’s Concordance statistics are calculated for each meter. Using a 2-dimentional 95th Confidence Interval ellipse, we select 13 JM-105 meters with similar accuracy and precision for use by the universal screening program. Using a quadratic model we fit a line based on the lower 95th predictive interval of the grouped meter data collected from 13 meters to Canadian Paediatric Society low, medium and high risk TSB thresholds for intensive phototherapy. ​ Results The study population includes 498 newborns that received 620 visits and 705 meter readings with thirteen JM-105 with mean birth weight 3.38 kilograms (SD=0.51) with thirteen JM-105. Along with the clinical screening protocol, nomograms for newborns 35-37 weeks gestation (high and medium risk thresholds) and 38+ weeks gestation medium and low risk thresholds) are presented. Newborns with TcB that plots in a potential treatment range will receive a TSB to determine if intensive phototherapy is required. Conclusion To support point-of-care decision making, a tertiary center and community follow-up program uses universal screening and follow-up protocols. TcB nomograms with action thresholds based on age and risk support point-of-care decision making.