This skin-care policy on my unit made things SO much clearer...

One of the easiest ways to create confusion in the NICU is to have nurses constantly asking: “Can I use chlorhexidine on this baby?” On one unit where I worked, the policy made this incredibly clear. There were specific criteria based on gestational age and day of life that told us when to use chlorhexidine and when to use povidone-iodine/Betadine for procedural skin preparation. For example, our smallest premature infants followed the more conservative Betadine pathway until they met the unit’s CHG criteria. The specific cutoff may look different in your NICU, but I love the concept: Don’t make every nurse interpret the evidence independently at the bedside. Your policy should clearly answer: • Which infants are eligible for CHG? • Is there a gestational-age cutoff? • Is there a postnatal-age cutoff? • Does the recommendation change based on the procedure? • Are certain body areas excluded? • Does the product need to be removed afterward? If nurses have to ask someone every single time, the policy probably needs to be clearer. 📚 As a recap of the 3 weeks of skin care, I created a sample skin-care guideline/policy you can use as a baseline for your unit. Comment “Skin Care Policy” to receive a copy! #nursesoftiktok #nicu #nicunurse #fyp #nicubaby