Pulse Oximetry Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Disease: Bringing Evidence Into Practice 123

• Pulse oximetry screening has been supported as a valuable tool to aid in the early detection of critical congenital heart disease in the newborn.
• Pulse oximetry is technology that is easily accessible, cost effective, and noninvasive, however it remains underutilized in the infant population.
• Nurses are key individuals involved with carrying out pulse oximetry screening and need to be given an active role in program development, planning, and implementation in order to ensure program uptake and sustainability.
• By raising the awareness of pulse oximetry screening, nurses can be leaders in translating knowledge into practice.

Congenital heart disease is the most common and serious type of infant birth defect. Pulse oximetry screening has been supported in the literature as a valuable tool to aid in the prompt detection of critical defects. Pulse oximetry is easily accessible, inexpensive, and noninvasive, and can be readily performed by clinical nurses at the infant's bedside; however, it remains a technology that is underutilized in newborns. Nurses can be leaders in addressing the need to translate knowledge into practice to improve the morbidity and mortality rates in the newborn population.