08 Nov Huggies® Nursing Advisory Council Creates First-of-its-Kind Approach to Help Deliver Best Care with Every Diaper Change

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Barbara Voigtman,

Barbara Voigtman, MSN, RN
Baby and Child Care Clinical Nurse Specialist, Study Manager
Kimberly-Clark
Neenah, WI

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this developmental diapering guide?

Response: Changing an infant’s diaper currently is seen as a repetitive, routine task. The Huggies Nursing Advisory Council – a Kimberly Clark-sponsored consulting group made up of experts in neonatal and perinatal nursing, education, occupational therapy, as well as a NICU parent advocate – discovered an unseized opportunity for nurses to integrate, model and educate parents and other caregivers about a broad approach to diapering. This approach incorporates the developmental care model to foster infant/parent bonding as well as support psychological, neuorobiological and psychoemotional needs of the infant in addition to attending to the more commonly addressed physiological needs of the infant related to skin care.

Together, the Council undertook an extensive literature review, analyzing more than 500 articles, and found that the majority of existing research focuses on prevention, diagnosis and resolution of diaper dermatitis, but there was no comprehensive resource that addresses all aspects of diapering. As a result, the Council co-authored Every Change Matters™: A Guide to Developmental Diapering Care, the first review to consider diapering care within a comprehensive approach—including skin care, physical development, sensory elements and bonding.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main elements of evidence-based developmental care that caregivers can incorporate into their diapering practices?

Response: The developmental care model underpins basic healing and wellness for the premature infant across psychological, neurobiological and psychoemotional domains. We’ve aligned the five elements of developmental care with five focus areas specific to developmental diapering care to serve as a structure for this recommendation in order to operationalize developmental diapering care in a way nurses, other healthcare professionals and parents/caregivers can use in the everyday clinical and home settings.

These are captured by the alliterative “Cs”:
• Calm and Clean: The optimal environment
• Change and Check: Activities of daily living (positioning, feeding, skin care)
• Comfort: Pain and stress assessment and management
• Champion Sleep: Protected sleep
• Confidence and Closeness: Family-integrated care

Every Change Matters™: A Guide to Developmental Diapering Care is comprised of a monograph, a fully referenced document to support enhancement of diapering practices among healthcare professionals, parents and caregivers with a more holistic, neurodevelopmental approach. The Council has also developed a quick-reference guide, a two-page reference document designed to provide “quick tips” for healthcare professionals to use in their clinical practice.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: First of all, Every Change Matters™: A Guide to Developmental Diapering Care presents a more mindful approach to diapering that can enhance diapering practice and provide parents with greater opportunities to make the most of diaper changes and provide infants a more supportive environment. Studies show that even standard caretaking procedures like diapering and other routine care can lead to increased stress in premature and newborn infants. This new way of looking at diapering by including the developmental care model is a gateway for future inclusion of developmental care in other areas of care that are often seen as routine as well.

MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Response: Huggies is proud to support the Huggies Nursing Advisory Council in the creation of Every Change Matters™: A Guide to Developmental Diapering Care. We share a passion with nurses and other healthcare professionals to help babies thrive. We hope that nurses will incorporate this new developmental look at diapering care and other routine cares into their practice as well as use it to inform and empower parents. The Council seeks to shift attitudes and approaches toward diapering: transforming the perception that diapering is a rote task into an appreciation of the significant opportunity diapering provides for nurturing, connecting, and fostering optimal growth and development of infants.

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation:

Every Change Matters™: A Guide to Developmental Diapering Care

For additional information and to download materials, please visit HuggiesHealthcare.com.

Note: Content is Not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider regarding your specific medical condition and questions.

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Last Updated on November 8, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD