NEBRASKA Nebraska Cares |
(Outstanding Innovative Project) |
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PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska served as corporate sponsor of the Nebraska Cares public information campaign as well as participating in the effort, which included radio and TV public service announcements, news releases, billboards, flyers and posters. In addition, Blue Cross arranged a child passenger safety workshop for its field representatives, enabling them to carry Nebraska Cares project information into physician's offices and hospitals throughout the state. A wide variety of staff and patient child passenger safety educational materials were developed for the project. They continue to be distributed to all hospitals and physicians. The nursing curriculum, "Motor Vehicle Trauma Prevention from Birth Through Early Childhood," was developed and subsequently approved by the Nebraska's Nurses' Association for continuing education credit. Additionally, Nebraska Cares developed the comprehensive "Loan-Sell-Give-A-Seat" program plan for hospitals and worked with them to establish loaner programs. |
RESULTS Of the 85 targeted hospitals, 95 percent are providing patient education on the correct use of safety seats, as compared with 51 percent of the target hospitals before the project. At project completion, 75 of the hospitals with services for newborns had adopted written policies requiring the discharge of newborns in safety seats. Ninety-one percent indicated they had safety seats available for short- or long-term loan or to give away. |
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NATIONAL HIGHWAY
TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION |
FALL 1998 |
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