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OBJECTIVES: We aimed to reduce unnecessary use of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) at lower flow rates through the implementation of a standard daily trial off HFNC at a medium-sized academic center. METHODS: We used an interprofessional quality improvement collaboration to develop and implement interventions to reduce HFNC waste in children aged 1 month to 24 months with bronchiolitis who were admitted to the inpatient ward or ICU. Key interventions included development and implementation of the Simple Cannula/Room Air Trial for Children (SCRATCH Trial), a standard trial off HFNC for eligible infants. Process measures were selected as metrics of use of the newly developed trial. The primary outcome measure was hours of treatment with ≤8 L per minute (LPM) of HFNC. Additional outcome measures included total hours of treatment with HFNC and length of stay. RESULTS: A total of 271 patients were included in this study, 131 in the preimplementation group and 140 in the postimplementation group. The mean hours of treatment below our a priori determined waste line (≤8 LPM of HFNC) decreased from 36.3 to 16.8 hours after SCRATCH Trial implementation, and mean length of stay decreased from 4.1 to 3.0 days. CONCLUSIONS: The SCRATCH Trial was successfully implemented across hospital units, with a significant reduction in hours on ≤8 LPM of flow. Rapid discontinuation of HFNC appears feasible and may be associated with a shorter length of stay.

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) and other medical complexity comprise an outsized proportion of health care use. In this review, we describe the current science of assessment of nutritional status for children with CP, outline a systematic approach to assessing their nutritional status, delineate ramifications of malnutrition on hospitalization-associated outcomes, and identify knowledge gaps and means of addressing those gaps using quality improvement and clinical research tools. Methods to accurately assess body composition and adiposity in this population by using skinfolds, age, sex, and activity level are available but are not widely used. There are limitations in our current method of estimating energy needs in children with CP, who are at higher risk of both obesity and micronutrient deficiencies. There is some evidence of an association between malnutrition, defined as either underweight or obesity, and hospitalization-associated outcomes in children generally, although we lack specific data for CP. The gaps in our current understanding of optimal nutritional status and between current science and practice need to be addressed to improve health outcomes for this vulnerable patient population.