204 - Current Practice and Barriers to Implementation of Point of Care Lung Ultrasound: A Survey of Canadian Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Poster Number: 204
Publication Number: 204.3032

Background: Despite the rapidly growing evidence highlighting the utility of Point of Care Lung Ultrasound (LU) for diagnosing and monitoring lung diseases in neonates, the adoption and implementation of LU within Canadian Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) has been limited.

Objective: To describe the current practices, assess the perceptions regarding the applicability of LU, and identify barriers hindering its routine integration into Canadian NICUs.

Design/Methods: An electronic cross-sectional survey was distributed to 33 Canadian tertiary-NICUs through the Canadian Neonatal Network (CNN) between May to September 2023. The survey, as well as the subsequent data collection, were conducted using the platform provided by CNN. Eligible participants included neonatologists, neonatal fellows, nurse practitioners, and respiratory therapists currently engaged in practice within the 33 tertiary-NICUs across Canada.

Results: A total of 194 responses were collected. The respondents represented various healthcare roles, with the majority being neonatologists, making up 45% of the cohort. Respiratory therapists comprised 26% of the participants, while neonatal fellows and nurse practitioners accounted for 19% and 9% of the responses, respectively. Sixty-Two percentage of the respondents had been in clinical practice for more than 10 years. Despite the availability of ultrasound machines among respondents (98%), 52% had no prior experience with LU. Methods of LU training varied, with 38% through in-person LU workshops, 27% through one-to-one training with LU experts in bedside, 26% via self-directed learning, and 20% via online workshops. Most responders expressed agreement or strongly agreement with the utility of LU in diagnosing and monitoring different lung diseases (Figure 1). The primary barrier for learning and implementing LU was the lack of local expertise to provide training (Figure 2). Encouragingly, 87% of the respondents expressed their interest in engaging in educational sessions.

Conclusion(s): The findings from our survey demonstrate a growing recognition of the significance of neonatal lung ultrasound within Canadian NICUs. However, lack of local LU expertise is the main obstacle to the widespread and integration of bedside LU into clinical practice across these units. Thus, it is essential to build expertise among NICU physicians and support local training in Canadian NICUs.