Maternal, Child Health and Neonatal Nursing Commons^™

Establishing Intervention Fidelity Of An Oral Motor Intervention For Preterm Infants, Brenda Lessen, Clare Morello, Lori Williams

Brenda S. Lessen

Purpose: To establish intervention fidelity of the premature infant oral motor intervention (PIOMI)

Design and sample: A rating tool was developed and tested for interrater reliability before being used to test the fidelity of intervention behaviors. A purposeful convenience sample of three users was recruited to perform the intervention under direct observation.

Main outcome variables: Three types of reliabilities were calculated: (1) interrater reliability to test the rating tool, followed by (2) interuser reliability, and (3) test–retest reliabilities to test the intervention behaviors of several registered nurses (RNs) over repeated performances of the intervention.

Results: The rating tool demonstrated a …

Member In The Spotlight: Brenda Lessen

Brenda S. Lessen

The Academy of Neonatal Nursing interviewed Professor Brenda Lessen about her work developing PIOMI.

Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention (Piomi): Translating Interventional Research Into Interdisciplinary Practice, Brenda Lessen

Brenda S. Lessen

Translating interventional research into practice requires a multifaceted approach. Rogers’ (2003) diffusion of innovations (DOL) model provides a framework within which to implement a new intervention into practice. The model asserts that the adoption of an innovation is influenced by the nature of the innovation and the manner in which it is communicated to users in a social system. The Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention (PIOMI) was developed by a nurse researcher with expertise in neonatal science, in collaboration with an expert in oral motor therapy. The safety and efficacy of the new intervention was tested (Lessen, 2011), followed by …

Reliability Of The Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention (Piomi), Brenda Lessen, Clare Morello

Brenda S. Lessen

Problem/Literature Review: Recent multidisciplinary research continues to examine various types of oral motor therapy in preterm infants but none have formally tested the reliability of specific oral motor interventions. The premature infant oral motor intervention (PIOMI) is a five minute, pre-feeding intervention developed to improve feeding skills. As further research is planned, the reliability of the intervention needed to be tested. The purpose of this study was to determine the interobserver, interuser, and test-retest reliability of the PIOMI, as well as determining if the specific training program developed was sufficient enough to reach high reliabilities.

Methodology: The study was conducted …

Effect Of The Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention On Feeding Progression And Length Of Stay In Preterm Infants, Brenda Lessen

Brenda S. Lessen

Purpose: Preterm infants frequently experience oral feeding difficulties due to underdeveloped oral motor skills and the lack of coordination of sucking, swallowing, and respiration. The infants’ ability to consume all feedings orally while maintaining physiologic stability and weight gain is necessary for their discharge. Therefore, difficulty with oral feeding leads to longer hospital stays and higher costs. For example, with more than half a million of premature infants born each year, a 3-day decrease in hospital stay would save more than 2 billion dollars annually. There is a need for evidenced-based interventions that facilitate development of oral-motor skills, leading to …

Effect Of Oral Stimulation On Feeding Progression In Preterm Infants, Brenda S. Lessen

Brenda S. Lessen

Effect Of Oral Stimulation On Feeding Progression In Preterm Infants, Brenda Lessen

Brenda S. Lessen

This is a poster presentation of original research conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of a newly developed prefeeding oral stimulation intervention (Beckman Oral Motor Intervention-Premature Infant) on feeding progression and length of stay on preterm infants younger than 30 weeks PMA.

Feeding Readiness In Preterm Infants: The Relationship Between Preterm Behavioral State And Feeding Readiness Behaviors And Efficiency During Transition From Gavage To Oral Feeding, R. White-Traut, Brenda Lessen, M. Berbaum, B. Mcfarlin, L. Cardenas

Brenda S. Lessen

The purpose of this secondary analysis was to assess whether alert behavioral states were associated with an increased number of feeding readiness behaviors (FRBs) and whether the number of FRBs were associated with subsequent feeding efficiency in healthy premature infants born between 29 to 35 weeks gestation. (post-print forthcoming)