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Q: How can I obtain the Rourke Baby Record?

The Rourke Baby Record (RBR) is freely available for downloading and printing on this website.
The Ontario version of the RBR and supporting information and resources around the enhanced 18 month well baby visit is also found at www.18monthvisit.ca

Q: Who can use the RBR?

The Rourke Baby Record is designed to be used by physicians, students and residents, nurse practitioners, community/public health nurses, and other health care providers who care for infants and children. 
Parents and caregivers can find reliable resources on the RBR website in the parent portal, or in more detail in the healthcare provider portal. 

Q: How do I use the Rourke Baby Record?

The Rourke Baby Record can be used in several ways:
  • It can be placed in the child’s chart and used as an aide memoire and to chart each well baby visit.
  • It facilitates care by various members of the healthcare team who can each complete their designated section of the RBR.
  • It can be copied and sent to a consultant along with a consult request as a concise summary of a child’s health information.
  • Resources 1 to 4 contain evidence-based information and resources for healthcare professionals and parents including pertinent websites.
  • Immunizations can be charted all together on one sheet, which can be copied for third parties as required.

This website allows you to:

Q: How is information chosen for inclusion in the Rourke Baby Record?

Items are chosen for the RBR based on: evidence (impact on health from 0 – 5 years); effectiveness and importance (improving outcomes); and efficiency (practical to apply and prioritize).
The RBR team partners with the McMaster Evidence Review & Synthesis Team (MERST) for epidemiologic surveillance and review of the latest literature. 
Level of evidence is evaluated and subsequent strength of recommendation is determined using the former Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care and/or the GRADE system where applicable.

Q: How often is the RBR revised?

Evidence-based well-baby/well-child care is constantly evolving. The Rourke Baby Record team reviews this literature regularly. A new edition of the RBR which includes this new information is released every three to four years.
Because the RBR is kept current, it is an ideal knowledge translation tool that optimizes the time for crucial research knowledge to be adopted in clinical practice and thus to influence the health of infants, young children, and their families.

Q: Is the Rourke Baby Record available in electronic medical record (EMR) format?

Many software firms have adapted the Rourke Baby Record for EMR format. A license agreement is available to allow these adaptations. Contact Dr. Leslie Rourke (lrourke@mun.ca) for further details.

Q: Is the Rourke Baby Record available in French?

The French National and Ontario versions of the Rourke Baby Record are available in various formats in the downloads section of this website. 
Changes from the prior editions of the RBR are found in the RBR Editions/Revisions) section of this website.

Q: Are there other versions of the Rourke Baby Record?

Ontario:
In addition to this website, the Ontario version of the Rourke Baby Record is available on a dedicated website for the enhanced 18 month well baby visit (www.18monthvisit.ca).

Nunavut:
2016 Nunavut Well Child Record: A working group of Community Health Nurses and Public Health Nurses, in consultation with the RBR authors and with Dr. Amber Miners, former Chief of Pediatrics at Qikiqtani General Hospital, have adapted the 2014 Rourke Baby Record for use in Nunavut. Since items unique to Nunavut have been added without levels of evidence, all fonts reflecting strength of recommendation have been omitted on the Nunavut Well Child Record. It is available at: http://www.gov.nu.ca/health/information/manuals-guidelines
2011 Nunavut Well Baby Record: This was originally launched as a modification of the 2009 RBR with the permission of the authors as part of the Nutaqqavut (our children) Heath Information System which included prenatal, birth defect, and well baby/child forms and resources.

Northwest Territories Well Child Record:
The NWT Well Child Record is the standard tool for screening and recording all well child assessments in the Northwest Territories (NWT). The NWT Well Child Record is based on the 2014 adapted Rourke Baby Record. NWT specific modifications were made based on input from NWT specialists as well as community health nurses, the primary users of the forms. The areas of adaptation for NWT include the addition of more detailed documentation on areas of specific concern, such as dental health and breastfeeding, as well as the inclusion of some additional process information such as referrals made. NWT Well Child resources may be found here: https://www.hss.gov.nt.ca/professionals/sites/professionals/files/resources/nwt-well-child-user-guide.pdf 

Nova Scotia Rourke Baby Record:
In consultation with the RBR authors, the Nova Scotia Reproductive Care Program along with stakeholders and those with expertise in newborn care, has adapted the 2017 Rourke Well Baby Record for use in Nova Scotia.
Several items specific to Nova Scotia have been added without levels of evidence and are identified with green font throughout the document. The immunization record and Resources 4: “Early Child Development and Parenting Resource System and Local Resources/Referrals Table” have been changed to reflect the Nova Scotia immunization schedule and Provincial resources. The Nova Scotia version of the 2017 Rourke Baby Record is available at: http://rcp.nshealth.ca/chartforms/nova-scotia-rourke-baby-record

Q: Has the Rourke Baby Record been validated?

Yes. Research on the use of, satisfaction with, and criterion validity of the Rourke Baby Record was published as follows:
Rourke L, Godwin M, Rourke J, Pearce S, Bean J. The Rourke Baby Record Infant/Child Maintenance Guide: do doctors use it, do they find it useful, and does using it improve their well-baby visit records? BMC Family Practice 2009, 10:28   doi:10.1186/1471-2296-10-28  http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2296/10/28