Nursing Commons^™

The Nicu Experience: Supporting Families & Providing Resources, Annie Zitelli

Senior Honors Projects

ANNIE ZITELLI (Nursing)

The NICU Experience: Supporting Families & Providing Resources

Sponsors: Colleen Kenny (Nursing)

This project aims to explore and understand the needs of family members who have an infant in the NICU to identify any gaps in resources and/or support hospitals provide to these families. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) provides optimal care for infants who are not fully developed or have serious health conditions. When an infant is brought to the NICU, parents and family members experience a flood of emotions. While families are trying to process the reality of having an infant in such a …

An Extensive Literature Review On Neonatal Pain Assessment & Management, Bailey Bishop

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Neonatal pain assessment and management is a field requiring much more research. This literature review outlines the current climate of neonatal pain assessment, compares a variety of neonatal pain scales on validity and clinical utility, and implications for how neonatal pain management can be improved. Neonates experience pain to the same degree, if not more, than everyone else. Unmanaged pain during the neonatal period leads to adverse health outcomes. In order to prevent these atrocities from this vulnerable population, NICU pain assessing needs to become the standard of care.

Music Therapy In The Nicu, Chandler Tice

MSN Capstone Projects

This paper discusses the importance of implementing the use of music therapy in the NICU. Preterm infants experience procedures that cause stress, overstimulation, and a change in vital signs. The use of music therapy aids in protecting preterm infants. This paper discusses the implementation and evaluation process and the benefits, cost, and literature associated with this change.

Parental Uncertainty In Illness Of An Infant And Perinatal Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In The Nicu, Kathryn Jeanne Malin

Theses and Dissertations

Varying and conflicting risk factors for perinatal post-traumatic stress disorder (PPTSD) have been reported in the literature in parents after having an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Furthermore, relationships between feelings of parental uncertainty in illness of an infant in the NICU and PPTSD in parents have not been established. The purpose of this study was to (a) investigate the factor structure underlying parental perception of uncertainty scale (PPUS) in a sample of parents in the NICU; (b) describe how parental uncertainty in illness changes throughout the NICU course and after discharge; (c) evaluate if infant illness …

The Relationship Between Low Socioeconomic Status And Mortality Rates Of School Age Children Related To Motor Vehicle Accidents, Rubi Calderon-Rodriguez

Nursing | Senior Theses

The purpose of this study is to assess nurses’ perceptions on the relationship between low socioeconomic status and high mortality rates of children due to motor vehicle accidents(MVAs). MVAs are the leading cause of death among children four years and older. Studies reviewed in this paper support that low socioeconomic status is associated with high child mortality rates caused by motor vehicle accidents. Factors contributing to these high mortality rates include: the lack of or improper use of restraints, low parental education attainment levels, black or Hispanic race, and environmental risks of low socioeconomic areas. A mixed methods study is …

Benefits Of Infant-Driven Feeding In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Literature Review, Maddison Carroll

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Current policy in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) is to prescribe a volume of formula or milk to ingest a certain number of times per day to infants admitted to the NICU. The method of infant-driven feeding (IDF) is believed to be a superior alternative that allows the infants to determine the timing and volume consumed and leads to better patient outcomes. To be considered in this review, the studies were required to be primary sources that were peer- reviewed, conducted in the last five years, and had to include at least one of three outcomes: weight gain, time to …

Infant Illness Severity And Perinatal Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After Discharge From The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Kathryn J. Malin, Teresa S. Johnson, Sarah Mcandrew, Jacqueline Westerdahl, Jonathan Leuthner, Joanne Lagatta

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Risk factors for perinatal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among parents of an infant in the NICU have varied in previous literature. The relationships between perception of illness severity and objective measures of illness severity with PTSD are not well understood.

Aims

To determine if PTSD among parents after an infant NICU discharge can be predicted by 1) objective measures of infant illness severity or 2) perceptions of infant illness severity.

Study design

A prospective, observational study.

Subjects

Parent/infant dyads who were in the NICU for ≥14 days.

Outcome measures

Objective measures of illness severity were obtained from the electronic …