Purpose for the program:  Perinatal units are afforded a unique experience in the lives of our patients-being present at the beginning of a family.  We as providers strive to ensure a positive experience

 Proposed change: Our perinatal care model was  previously traditional  with  separate Labor and Delivery, Postpartum, and Nursery units. Each family  had one postpartum nurse and one nursery nurse caring for them.   We transitioned to mother/baby couplet care to improve our process of care for our patients.   We continued assigning a nurse to remain in the nursery.  Even  after we had fully implemented mother/baby care,  babies continued to spend long periods of time in the nursery for care and procedures.   We found that we were not meeting our full potential in caring for our families as evidenced by our patient satisfaction scores. 

Implementation, outcomes and evaluation:  Our leadership team led an effort to keep moms and babies together,   stressing the importance of positive outcomes for our patients, such as early breastfeeding and promotion of bonding.    We started this project by developing our mission, vision, and values, brainstorming issues identified on the units,  reviewing our processes, and outlining  the ideal seamless, high-quality experience for our patients.  Staff members from Labor and Delivery, Mother/Baby, High Risk OB and Neonatal ICU participated in workgroups to  develop our new processes  and staff training.   We conducted train-the-trainer sessions using staff members, not leaders, as the trainers.   After these sessions, we  held a Family Centered Care skills fair where all staff in the perinatal units attended training sessions. In these sessions, they learned about the evidence behind the change and how to implement the change in their every day practice. 

Implications for nursing practice: After our new Family Centered Care Model  was implemented, we very quickly identified positive outcomes related to our change.  During the first few weeks, the leadership team conducted face to face interviews with 100 patients and received overwhelmingly positive responses.  Patient satisfaction scores went from the 61^st percentile to the 100^th percentile while quality measures improved related to skin to skin after delivery and breastfeeding within the 1^st hour.   We  also  achieved multiple awards related to our patient and employee satisfaction, providing the confirmation that we had achieved our mission of higher patient quality and satisfaction.

Keywords: Family Centered Care, Quality, Patient Satisfaction