Pediatrics
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of nurse home visiting on maternal and child functioning: age-9 follow-up of a randomized trial.
Our goal was to test the effect of prenatal and infancy home visits by nurses on mothers' fertility and children's functioning 7 years after the program ended at child age 2. ⋯ By child age 9, the program reduced women's rates of subsequent births, increased the intervals between the births of first and second children, increased the stability of their relationships with partners, facilitated children's academic adjustment to elementary school, and seems to have reduced childhood mortality from preventable causes.
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The National Residency Matching Program allows match participants to recruit each other and try to influence future ranking decisions in their favor, but it also states that participants "must not make statements implying commitment." The National Residency Matching Program cautions against statements such as, "We plan to rank you very highly on our list," because they can be misinterpreted as an informal commitment. To avoid issues around miscommunication, the University of Washington Pediatric Residency Program instituted a postinterview no-call policy with applicants. The purpose of this study was to determine this policy's impact on applicants. ⋯ We identified a vulnerable applicant population whose rank lists are potentially influenced by questionable postinterview communication from residency programs. To protect the integrity and fairness of the match, we call for more explicit guidelines regarding postinterview communication with applicants.
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We conducted a systematic review of the literature on parent presence during complex invasive pediatric procedures and/or resuscitation. We identified 15 studies that met our inclusion criteria. ⋯ Despite the endorsements of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the recommendations of the American Heart Association, few pediatric institutions have drafted guidelines, conducted clinical education, or committed sufficient staff resources to fully support this practice. We present this review not only to illustrate the various perspectives of parents/guardians, clinicians, and pediatric patients themselves that have been reported to date but also to encourage more research so that the practice can be performed safely and benefit parents, their children, and clinicians alike.
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We investigated whether very low birth weight (<1500 g) is associated with the risk of sleep-disordered breathing in young adulthood. ⋯ Premature infants with very low birth weight have a twofold risk of sleep-disordered breathing as young adults. In addition, maternal smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of sleep-disordered breathing by more than twofold.