Christa Bedford-Mu
January 2021
Christa
Bedford-Mu
,
MSN, RN, CNS-BC
NICU
UC Davis Medical Center and Ambulatory Care
Sacramento
,
CA
United States
Christa is truly dedicated to advancing the health of infants and supporting their families through the most challenging of times.
As the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit’s Clinical Nurse Specialist, Christa Bedford-Mu is dedicated to improving outcomes for the most fragile, high-risk patient population. As a trained Wound Treatment Associate, Christa is certified in caring for infants with skin integrity issues and healing complex wounds. Christa has worked closely with the Pediatric Surgery team to standardize post-operative dressings for infants with ostomies; furthermore, Christa has collaborated with the Neurosurgical team to develop a standardized approach to dressing myelomeningoceles prior to repair.
As the NICU’s representative for the Fetal Care and Treatment Center, Christa also collaborated with the Fetal Surgery team to address wound care for infants post-fetal surgery. Christa has designed and implemented standardized approaches to multiple types of complex wounds. Infants receive a higher level of care because bedside nurses are confident in the wound care they provide. Infants cared for using this system experience statistically significant reductions in post-operative complications (including wound dehisces), heal faster, and have a decreased risk of infection. These improved wound outcomes ensure infants’ lengths of stay and healthcare utilization are reduced.
An excellent example is when Christa collaborated with the Fetal Care and Treatment Center to provide consultation and education regarding complex wound care guidance to a referring hospital at the edge of UC Davis Health’s catchment area. A premature infant who had previously undergone fetal repair for myelomeningocele and was delivered at the referring hospital. After delivery, the family contacted UC Davis Health due to a concern for infection and possible intervention by Plastic Surgery. A teleconference was arranged, and wound care guidance was provided; within one week, the wound began to heal appropriately, the infant did not develop an infection, and it did not require a second surgery. More importantly, the infant and family did not require transfer away from their community and support systems. Furthermore, her collaboration led to the development of a standardized wound care guideline and reference sheet. Families who are seen at the Fetal Care and Treatment Center but who are returning to the referring facilities for care are now provided these crucial resources, including a “starter kit” providing all necessary items outlined in the guideline.
Lastly, Christa continuously makes herself available to address wound care questions via telehealth. This work was shared with other institutions when Christa was selected for two podium presentations, “Bridging the Gap: A Collaborative Approach to FMMC Wound Healing” and “Transitioning Home From the NICU” at the International Society of Pediatric Wounds Conference. Christa’s consistent collaboration has ensured that the highest quality evidenced-based care is implemented not only within UC Davis Health, but also in community hospitals. Because of her tireless dedication, infants and their families receive excellent, innovative care and experience better outcomes. Christa is truly dedicated to advancing the health of infants and supporting their families through the most challenging of times.
***
It is my pleasure to support the nomination of Christa Bedford-Mu. Christa is consistently involved in education and training supporting patient safety; this support begins at the start of a nurse’s career in the NICU. Christa designed and implemented a new hire orientation program including lectures, case studies, return demonstrations, scheduled feedback sessions, and focused patient care assignments with primary preceptors, resulting in a 99% new hire retention rate. During the University’s initial American College of Surgeon accreditation review, this orientation program was highlighted as “One of the most comprehensive programs in the nation.”
Christa works collaboratively with the NICU Educator to provide yearly NICU skills days. Utilizing task stations and simulation, these skills days focus on knowledge and skill acquisition for high-risk low-volume situations to enhance patient safety. Premature infant’s long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes depend on the care they receive immediately after delivery. Christa was instrumental in implementing a neonatal golden hour checklist to guide care during the critical first hour of life. This checklist focused on preventing intraventricular hemorrhage and hypothermia while optimizing fluid and electrolyte management. Post-implementation data noted a 10% decrease in hypothermia in the first hour of life, allowing UC Davis to outperform a majority of like centers in national compare data sets.
Christa is also a key participant and leader in the Supporting Pediatric Research on Outcomes and Utilization of Telehealth (SPROUT) program, a tele-visit and telehealth project aimed at improving the transition from NICU to home. Medically complex infants are discharged from the NICU with multifaceted care needs that must transition from the intensive care unit to the family in rural, underserved communities. UC Davis NICU provides telehealth visits with parents and their primary providers at the first doctor’s appointment following discharge. These visits are aimed at improving the transition from the NICU to home. This program has allowed for earlier discharge and increased parental and provider satisfaction while decreasing readmission. Recognizing the immense stress and potential for impaired bonding faced by parents of hospitalized neonates, Christa designed the core curriculum for a “Getting to Know Your Baby” class. This class provides gestationally-based education and instruction in recognition of patient cues, including signs of overstimulation, hunger, feeding, and fatigue. This course focuses on providing families with the knowledge and skills to be active participants in their infant’s complex care while helping to facilitate bonding.
As a tertiary referral center for pediatric/neonatal surgical gastrointestinal conditions, Christa was a key driver in identifying the high-risk needs of infants with short gut syndrome. After identifying a need to improve effluent re-feeding, Christa completed a literature review. She implemented a new device, used in a novel way, which dramatically increased the amount of effluent refed to the infant, thus increasing their overall growth while reducing their dependence on total parenteral nutrition and fortification of feeds. This helped propel UC Davis Health’s goals of improving neurodevelopmental outcomes for this high-risk patient population while decreasing their overall length of stay.
As the NICU’s representative for the Fetal Care and Treatment Center, Christa also collaborated with the Fetal Surgery team to address wound care for infants post-fetal surgery. Christa has designed and implemented standardized approaches to multiple types of complex wounds. Infants receive a higher level of care because bedside nurses are confident in the wound care they provide. Infants cared for using this system experience statistically significant reductions in post-operative complications (including wound dehisces), heal faster, and have a decreased risk of infection. These improved wound outcomes ensure infants’ lengths of stay and healthcare utilization are reduced.
An excellent example is when Christa collaborated with the Fetal Care and Treatment Center to provide consultation and education regarding complex wound care guidance to a referring hospital at the edge of UC Davis Health’s catchment area. A premature infant who had previously undergone fetal repair for myelomeningocele and was delivered at the referring hospital. After delivery, the family contacted UC Davis Health due to a concern for infection and possible intervention by Plastic Surgery. A teleconference was arranged, and wound care guidance was provided; within one week, the wound began to heal appropriately, the infant did not develop an infection, and it did not require a second surgery. More importantly, the infant and family did not require transfer away from their community and support systems. Furthermore, her collaboration led to the development of a standardized wound care guideline and reference sheet. Families who are seen at the Fetal Care and Treatment Center but who are returning to the referring facilities for care are now provided these crucial resources, including a “starter kit” providing all necessary items outlined in the guideline.
Lastly, Christa continuously makes herself available to address wound care questions via telehealth. This work was shared with other institutions when Christa was selected for two podium presentations, “Bridging the Gap: A Collaborative Approach to FMMC Wound Healing” and “Transitioning Home From the NICU” at the International Society of Pediatric Wounds Conference. Christa’s consistent collaboration has ensured that the highest quality evidenced-based care is implemented not only within UC Davis Health, but also in community hospitals. Because of her tireless dedication, infants and their families receive excellent, innovative care and experience better outcomes. Christa is truly dedicated to advancing the health of infants and supporting their families through the most challenging of times.
***
It is my pleasure to support the nomination of Christa Bedford-Mu. Christa is consistently involved in education and training supporting patient safety; this support begins at the start of a nurse’s career in the NICU. Christa designed and implemented a new hire orientation program including lectures, case studies, return demonstrations, scheduled feedback sessions, and focused patient care assignments with primary preceptors, resulting in a 99% new hire retention rate. During the University’s initial American College of Surgeon accreditation review, this orientation program was highlighted as “One of the most comprehensive programs in the nation.”
Christa works collaboratively with the NICU Educator to provide yearly NICU skills days. Utilizing task stations and simulation, these skills days focus on knowledge and skill acquisition for high-risk low-volume situations to enhance patient safety. Premature infant’s long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes depend on the care they receive immediately after delivery. Christa was instrumental in implementing a neonatal golden hour checklist to guide care during the critical first hour of life. This checklist focused on preventing intraventricular hemorrhage and hypothermia while optimizing fluid and electrolyte management. Post-implementation data noted a 10% decrease in hypothermia in the first hour of life, allowing UC Davis to outperform a majority of like centers in national compare data sets.
Christa is also a key participant and leader in the Supporting Pediatric Research on Outcomes and Utilization of Telehealth (SPROUT) program, a tele-visit and telehealth project aimed at improving the transition from NICU to home. Medically complex infants are discharged from the NICU with multifaceted care needs that must transition from the intensive care unit to the family in rural, underserved communities. UC Davis NICU provides telehealth visits with parents and their primary providers at the first doctor’s appointment following discharge. These visits are aimed at improving the transition from the NICU to home. This program has allowed for earlier discharge and increased parental and provider satisfaction while decreasing readmission. Recognizing the immense stress and potential for impaired bonding faced by parents of hospitalized neonates, Christa designed the core curriculum for a “Getting to Know Your Baby” class. This class provides gestationally-based education and instruction in recognition of patient cues, including signs of overstimulation, hunger, feeding, and fatigue. This course focuses on providing families with the knowledge and skills to be active participants in their infant’s complex care while helping to facilitate bonding.
As a tertiary referral center for pediatric/neonatal surgical gastrointestinal conditions, Christa was a key driver in identifying the high-risk needs of infants with short gut syndrome. After identifying a need to improve effluent re-feeding, Christa completed a literature review. She implemented a new device, used in a novel way, which dramatically increased the amount of effluent refed to the infant, thus increasing their overall growth while reducing their dependence on total parenteral nutrition and fortification of feeds. This helped propel UC Davis Health’s goals of improving neurodevelopmental outcomes for this high-risk patient population while decreasing their overall length of stay.