Clinical pathways for family-oriented developmental care in the intensive care nursery

The physiologic and neurodevelopmental benefits of developmentally sensitiv e nursing care for high-risk infants have been well documented, The remaini ng challenge is to find ways to introduce developmental care principles int o busy intensive care nurseries. The article discusses the development of t hree clinical pathways designed around five areas for developmental interve ntion: environmental organization, structuring of nursing care, feeding, fa mily involvement, and family education. Each pathway incorporated developme ntal principles appropriate for a different level of care; the level III pa thway was designed for acutely ill or very premature infants, the level II pathway for infants recovering from acute illness or older premature infant s, and the level I pathway for full-term infants. Introduction of the devel opmental care pathways had an immediate positive impact in the tertiary lev el intensive care nursery at Allegheny General Hospital.