Elaboration and implementation of a protocol for the Golden Hour of premature newborns using an Implementation Science lens

OBJECTIVE: describe the process of designing and implementing a care protocol for the first hour of life of premature newborns. METHOD: a participatory research study using an implementation science framework, the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was employed to determine drivers and facilitators of implementation success of the Golden Hour protocol for newborns at a large university hospital in southeastern Brazil. A multi-professional team, including first line providers and managers participated in six stages of quality improvement: situational diagnosis; protocol elaboration; training protocol implementation; barrier and facilitator assessment; and protocol monitoring and review. Qualitative and monitoring data collected across these six stages were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. RESULTS: the institution’s Golden Hour protocol was organized by the multi-professional team based on a collective and dialogical approach. The protocol prioritized the infant’s cardiopulmonary stability, as well as prevention of hypothermia, hypoglycemia and infection. After four months of implementation, the care team was evaluated the protocol as a good quality intervention, necessary for the service, low-cost and not very complex. One suggested improvement recommended was to carry out refresher training to address staff turnover. CONCLUSION: implementation of the Golden Hour protocol introduced an appropriate and feasible neonatal care quality improvement process, which requires periodic refresher training to ensure greater adherence and better neonatal results.