Health care systems are challenged with issues of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) may be overdiagnosed with standardized assessment protocols and may be overtreated with current NICU-based models of care. Clinical approaches to caring for neonates with NAS and their families have not significantly changed for 40 years, and there is growing interest in revisiting long-standing routine practices. I used Bronfenbrenner's social ecological systems framework to organize an exploration of factors that contribute to overdiagnosis and overtreatment in the care of neonates with NAS.
Keywords: infant; neonatal abstinence syndrome; neonatal opioid withdrawal; neonate; overdiagnosis; overtreatment.
Copyright © 2018 AWHONN, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.