Ben and Daphna conclude Journal Club with a quality improvement study from Pediatrics titled "Improving Health-Related Social Needs Screening and Support Across a Pediatric Health Care System". The hosts discuss the successful implementation of universal social determinants of health (SDOH) screening across nine pediatric divisions at Levine Children's. They highlight the impressive results—screening compliance reaching 92%—and the practical impact of connecting families to resources like FindHelp.org, which led to a 56% resolution rate in food insecurity for positive screens. Daphna makes a personal commitment to improve resource accessibility in her own unit.

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Improving Health-Related Social Needs Screening and Support Across a Pediatric Health Care System. Laroia R, Minor W, Carr A, Buitrago Mogollon T, White BB, Mabus S, Stilwell L, Ahmed A, Mehta S, Obita T, Reed S, Senturias Y, Mittal S, Horstmann S, Demmer L, Dantuluri K, Chadha A, Noonan L, Courtlandt C.Pediatrics. 2026 Feb 5:e2024070035. doi: 10.1542/peds.2024-070035. Online ahead of print.PMID: 41638605

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.

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Ben and Daphna review a randomized controlled trial published in The Journal of Pediatrics by Dr. Ariel Salas and colleagues at UAB. The study investigates whether early high-dose vitamin D supplementation (800 IU/day starting day 1) in extremely preterm infants reduces the incidence of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) compared to standard care (starting day 14). The hosts discuss the physiologic rationale linking vitamin D to lung development, the use of impulse oscillometry to measure lung mechanics, and the secondary findings regarding metabolic bone disease. They explore why the "physiologic rationale" doesn't always translate to clinical significance.

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Early Vitamin D Supplementation in Infants Born Extremely Preterm and Fed Human Milk: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Salas AA, Argent T, Jeffcoat S, Tucker M, Ashraf AP, Travers CP.J Pediatr. 2025 Dec;287:114754. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2025.114754. Epub 2025 Jul 24.PMID: 40714046 Clinical Trial.

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!

In this episode of Journal Club, Ben and Daphna review a retrospective cohort study from Pediatrics examining antibiotic duration for uncomplicated Gram-negative bloodstream infections in the NICU. The study, a collaboration between Nationwide Children’s Hospital and UT Health San Antonio, compares outcomes between short course (≤8 days) and long course (≥9 days) therapy. The hosts discuss the startling finding that while recurrence rates were similar, the long-duration group had a 14% rate of developing multi-drug resistant (MDR) infections within 90 days, compared to 0% in the short-duration group.

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Duration of Antibiotic Therapy for Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infections in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Djordjevich CJ, Magers J, Cantey JB, Prusakov P, Sánchez PJ.J Pediatr. 2026 Jan 17:114993. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2026.114993. Online ahead of print.PMID: 41554433 Free article.

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!