Application of the NICU Practice Guidelines to Treat an Infant in a Level III NICU

In Brief Purpose: The purpose of this case report was to determine how current physical therapy (PT) practice in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), with 1 infant, adhered to the neonatal PT decision-making framework that was developed as part of the NICU practice guidelines for clinical care. Summary of Key Points: Most PT interventions implemented in this NICU were supported by the algorithm, with some steps more readily implemented than others. Conclusions: This case report highlights the utility of the NICU clinical decision-making algorithm for not only assisting with developing an evidence-based PT plan of care for an infant at high risk but also its usefulness in revealing NICU programmatic and policy strengths and areas for improvement. Recommendations for Clinical Practice: The NICU developmental and therapeutic teams are encouraged to conduct similar endeavors to assess the quality of PT care in their NICUs. The authors demonstrate the use of the NICU Practice Guidelines to examine the quality of care in their NICU. They recommend therapists in other NICUs use the Guidelines to conduct a similar review.