#473 - 🟣 [FANNP 2026] - What happens when you ask NICU parents to ask you a question?

Send us Fan Mail

What if the sedative you added to spare opioids is the reason your patient is still on them? Recording live from the 2026 National Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Symposium in Clearwater, Florida, Daphna sits down with Dr. Khorshid Mohammad, neonatal neurocritical care expert from the University of Calgary, to preview his three talks. He shares how one small change in rounding language opened up NICU families, why true parent partnership means understanding rather than judging, and why neonatal pain scoring remains so subjective. He also explains how his team learned that adding dexmedetomidine increased opioid exposure in postsurgical neonates, and how a protocolized, score-driven QI approach turned it around. His take-home message is simple: how you do it matters more than what you do.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!