Evidence-Based Medicine
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Pediatr. Feb 8, 2017; 6(1): 81-88
Published online Feb 8, 2017. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v6.i1.81
Using quality improvement methods to increase use of pain prevention strategies for childhood vaccination
Jennifer Verrill Schurman, Amanda D Deacy, Rebecca J Johnson, Jolynn Parker, Kristi Williams, Dustin Wallace, Mark Connelly, Lynn Anson, Kevin Mroczka
Jennifer Verrill Schurman, Amanda D Deacy, Rebecca J Johnson, Dustin Wallace, Mark Connelly, Division of Developmental and Behavioral Sciences, Children’s Mercy, Kansas City, MO 64108, United States
Jolynn Parker, Primary Care Clinic, Children’s Mercy, Kansas City, MO 64108, United States
Kristi Williams, Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Children’s Mercy, Kansas City, MO 64108, United States
Lynn Anson, Comprehensive Pain Management, Children’s Mercy, Kansas City, MO 64108, United States
Kevin Mroczka, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Mercy, Kansas City, MO 64108, United States
Author contributions: Schurman JV contributed to the design of the quality improvement study and interventions, coordinated and supervised data collection, carried out the analysis and initial data interpretation, and drafted the initial manuscript; Deacy AD and Johnson RJ contributed to the design of the quality improvement study and interventions, data interpretation, and drafting of the initial manuscript, and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; Parker J, Williams K, Wallace D, Connelly M, Anson L, and Mroczka K contributed to the design of the quality improvement study and interventions, and data interpretation, and critically reviewed the manuscript; all authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Supported by the Pfizer Medical Education Group in part.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest arising from this work.
Data sharing statement: No further data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Jennifer Verrill Schurman, PhD, ABPP, Division of Developmental and Behavioral Sciences, Children’s Mercy, 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, MO 64108, United States. jschurman@cmh.edu
Telephone: +1-816-2343675
Received: July 15, 2016
Peer-review started: July 16, 2016
First decision: August 4, 2016
Revised: October 20, 2016
Accepted: November 1, 2016
Article in press: November 2, 2016
Published online: February 8, 2017
Processing time: 203 Days and 8.3 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Application of quality improvement methodology can help close the gap in implementing evidence-based pain prevention strategies during routine medical procedures, such as childhood vaccination. A key element to the adoption and maintenance of practice change appears to be building a meaningful partnership with key staff (e.g., nurses who routinely deliver vaccinations) within the target clinic to elicit their expertise and input, as well as facilitate their ownership of the process. Development of project “champions” among key staff can help reduce barriers to implementation, increase uptake of practice change, and shift culture to support long-term maintenance of gains.