This column is the last in a series on selected perinatal- and neonatal-focused Internet resources and mobile applications (apps) for clinical practice, teaching, or professional development. The focus for app recommendations is primarily on free or inexpensive apps. The Internet sites and apps covered in this column are Family Integrated Care (FICare), Life's Little Love app, Support 4 NICU Parents, Neonatal Resuscitation Protocol (NRP) app, and Preconception Care app.

The FICare site (http://familyintegratedcare.com) was developed by healthcare professionals and parents who had been in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada. This model of care "builds on principles of Family Centered Care to facilitate a partnership and collaboration between parents and the NICU staff, to promote parent-infant interactions, and to build parent confidence. This is achieved by promoting information sharing between staff and parents and by parent participation in their infant's care."1 With this model of care, parents "are taught to be involved in all possible aspects of their infant's care (e.g., feeding, diaper changes, bathing, and providing oral medications), tracking growth and progress, decision-making, and taking part in medical rounds."1 The FICare Web site describes program development (including staff education and support, parent education, the NICU environment, and psychosocial support), strategies for implementation, and links to tools and resources including research using this model.

The FICare approach pilot study at Mount Sinai Hospital found improved weight gain, fewer nosocomial infections, increased breast-feeding rates, less retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), and less parent-reported stress in intervention infants (<33 weeks' gestation with no severe anomalies or critical illness and on low-level respiratory support).2 A multicenter (13 control units and 13 intervention units) is currently in progress in NICUs in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.1 Inclusion criteria for infants in this study are infants born less than 33 weeks' gestation, on low-level respiratory support (with no serious congenital anomalies or critical illness), and "a primary caregiver parent, willing and able to commit to spending 6 hours per day with their baby between the hours of 0700 and 2000."1

An example of an app developed for NICU parents is Life's Little Love, a free app for parents of preterm infants (http://alexiatek.com/alexiatek/lll). This app is available for both iOS and Android devices. Life's Little Love is based on resources from Baby Steps to Home (http://babystepstohome.com/) developed by the National Association of Neonatal Nurses. Topics are subdivided into 4 major headings: Early Beginnings, Growing Stronger, Almost There, and Home Time, although it is not clear for some topics why they are under the specific heading. Topics addressed include parenting in the NICU, kangaroo care, NICU personnel, common tests and equipment, breast milk pumping and storage, skin care, pain management, selected disorders, predischarge considerations and assessments, and more. Most of the topics are generic to any NICU, although a few such as visiting policies are specific to the Royal Alexandra NICU involved in development of the app.

Support 4 NICU Parents (http://support4nicuparents.org/) is a Web site with resources for both professionals and parents for NICU family support that was developed by the National Perinatal Association. Topics addressed from both family and professional perspectives include peer support, family-centered developmental care, mental health support, palliative and bereavement care, and staff education.3 Each topic includes an overview and suggestions with links to resources. Links for families to resources in Spanish for each of the above topics are also included.

Accompanying the publication of the seventh edition of the NRP from the American Academy of Pediatrics/American Heart Association is release of an updated NRP app (http://www2.aap.org/NRP/). This free app is available for both iOS and Android devises. Resources on the app include a PDF version of the guidelines, resuscitation algorithm, videos of ventilation corrective steps (Mr. SOPA) and positive pressure ventilation cadence, and NRP seventh edition and global health resources.

The Preconception Care app from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (https://mobile.va.gov/training/preconception-care) provides information and resources for primary care providers and patients "to integrate preconception care into practice to optimize care."4 Topics include reproductive history and reproductive life plan, health status, family/genetic history and risks, and lifestyle factors. Although the focus is primarily on women, there is a section on men and reproductive health. Links are provided for additional resources for both patients and providers.

-Susan Blackburn, PhD, RN, FAAN

Professor Emeritus

Department of Family and Child Nursing

University of Washington, Seattle

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