Tracking NICU nurse practitioner workload in real time to help newborn care and safety
Measuring NICU Nurse Practitioner Workload in Real-time to Improve Care Quality and Patient Safety
['FUNDING_R01'] · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · NIH-11141020
A system will track NICU nurse practitioners’ workload in real time to help keep critically ill newborns safer and improve their care.
Quick facts
| Phase | ['FUNDING_R01'] |
|---|---|
| Study type | Nih_funding |
| Sex | All |
| Sponsor | VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER (nih funded) |
| Locations | 1 site (NASHVILLE, UNITED STATES) |
| Trial ID | NIH-11141020 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
What this research studies
If my baby is in the NICU, the team will collect information about staffing, tasks, patient needs, and the unit environment to measure how busy clinicians are. They will combine electronic health record data, workflow signals, and situational factors to create real-time workload measures across unit, job, patient, and situation levels. The researchers will link these workload signals to safety events and provider well‑being and build health IT tools to show when workload is dangerously high. The goal is to create scalable tools hospitals can use to reduce errors and improve care for newborns.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are newborns receiving care in NICUs—especially in busy, high-acuity units where nurse practitioners are part of the care team.
Not a fit: Babies cared for outside NICUs, healthy newborns, or units that do not use nurse practitioners may not benefit directly from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lower errors and improve safety and quality of care for critically ill newborns in NICUs.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have linked high clinician workload to more safety events, but applying real-time, multi-level workload monitoring in NICUs is a relatively new and novel approach.
Where this research is happening
NASHVILLE, UNITED STATES
- VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER — NASHVILLE, UNITED STATES (ACTIVE)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: FRANCE, DANIEL JOSEPH — VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- Study coordinator: FRANCE, DANIEL JOSEPH
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.