Nurses’ perspectives on the suffering of preterm infants

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 798-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Korhonen ◽  
Annu Haho ◽  
Tarja Pölkki

The concept of suffering is discussed among those who are cognitively aware and verbally capable to express their suffering. Due to immaturity, preterm infants’ abilities to express suffering are limited. Relieving suffering is an ethical and juridical demand of good nursing care. The purpose of this study is to describe nurses’ perceptions of the suffering of preterm infants. A descriptive qualitative approach was selected. Data were collected from essays written by nurses (n = 19) working in the neonatal intensive care unit. Inductive content analysis guided by the research question was performed. The nurses described individually determined suffering of the preterm infants according to four categories: suffering ruled by maturation, existence of suffering, individual threshold of suffering and interpreting the cues of suffering. Suffering of preterm infants is manifested by population-specific features, emphasising the need to develop sensitive interventions for relieving their suffering.

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 567
Author(s):  
Álvaro Pereira ◽  
Ana Emília Rosa Campos ◽  
Rudval Souza da Silva

ABSTRACTObjective: to understand the nurses’ feelings who care for patients that are dying at Intensive Care Unit. Method: this is about an exploratory-descriptive study from qualitative approach, which had as principal question: How do you feel taking care of patients outside chance of cure Intensive Care Unit? The sample was composed by ten nurses. It was used as a scenario, the Intensive Care Unit of a public hospital in Salvador city. Data collection occurred from August to September 2008, with recorded interviews using a semi-structured script. The content analysis proposed by Bardin was the reference used for the analysis of data, which defined the categories of analysis. Results: two categories emerged: feelings related to the patient and feelings related to with the family. Conclusion: the death is considered by nurses who deal with it in the Intensive Care Unit, as an experience of conflicting emotions, sometimes painful. Descriptors: death; emotions; nursing care; intensive care unit.RESUMOObjetivo: compreender os sentimentos dos enfermeiros ao cuidar do paciente que está morrendo na Unidade de terapia intensiva. Método: estudo exploratório-descritivo, com abordagem qualitativa, que teve como questão norteadora: Como você se sente cuidando do paciente fora de possibilidade de cura na Unidade de terapia intensiva? Participaram desse estudo, dez enfermeiras. Utilizou-se, como cenário, a Unidade de Terapia Intensiva de um hospital público da cidade de Salvador. A coleta de dados aconteceu entre os meses de agosto e setembro de 2008, a partir de entrevistas gravadas com roteiro semi-estruturado. A Análise de Conteúdo proposta por Bardin foi à referência utilizada para a análise dos dados, onde se definiram as categorias de análise. Resultados: emergiram duas categorias: sentimentos relacionados ao paciente e sentimentos relacionados à família. Conclusão: a morte é tida pelas enfermeiras que com ela lidam no espaço da Unidade de terapia intensiva, como uma vivência de sentimentos conflituosos, por vezes dolorosos. Descritores: morte; emoções; cuidados de enfermagem; unidade de terapia intensiva.RESUMEN Objetivo: comprender los sentimientos de las enfermeras para el cuidado del paciente que está muriendo en la Unidad de Tratamiento Intensivo. Método: estudio descriptivo-exploratorio con aproximación cualitativa, que tênia como pregunta orientadora: ¿Cómo se siente teniendo el cuidado de los pacientes fuera de posibilidades de cura Unidad de Tratamiento Intensivo. La muestra estuvo compuesta por diez enfermeras. Se utilizó como escenario, la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos de un hospital público en la ciudad de Salvador. La recopilación de datos ocurrieron entre los meses de agosto y septiembre de 2008, registrada a partir de entrevistas semi-estructuradas con el guión. El análisis de contenido propuesta por Bardin fue la referencia utilizada para el análisis de los datos, que definen las categorías de análisis. Resultados: surgieron dos categorías: los sentimientos relacionados con el paciente y los sentimientos relacionados con la familia. Conclusión: la muerte es considerada por las enfermeras para hacer frente a ella dentro de la Unidad de Tratamiento Intensivo, como una experiencia de emociones en conflicto, a veces doloroso. Descriptores: muerte; emociones; cuidados de enfermería; unidad de cuidados intensivos.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Ferreira de Lima ◽  
Verônica de Azevedo Mazza

ABSTRACT Objective: to identify the information needs of the families of preterm infants hospitalized to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on health/disease. Method: exploratory study, with a qualitative approach, performed with 33 relatives of preterm infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, through a semi-structured interview, recorded in audio, transcribed and analyzed with the aid of the Interface de R pour les Analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires software. Results: two categories were identified, which are called: Reality versus expectation of obtaining information about the preterm infant; and Information on health/disease on-line: useful, positive and unattractive aspects. Conclusion: it has been found that the information needs of family members are wide, and different means are employed to satisfy them, ranging from the traditional and every day to the use of technological means to find data and used for different purposes.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvana Santiago Da Rocha ◽  
Dean Douglas Ferreira De Olivindo ◽  
Caroline Neves De Sá ◽  
Luara Freitas Fonseca

Objetivou-se descrever a percepção da equipe de enfermagem em relação às mães no cuidado de recém-nascidos na unidade de terapia intensiva neonatal. Estudo do tipo exploratório-descritivo, com abordagem qualitativa. A entrevista foi o instrumento utilizado para a coleta dos dados, obedecendo aos critérios da resolução CNS 196/96. Os dados foram analisados utilizando-se a análise de conteúdo, originando três categorias: problemas vivenciados pela equipe de enfermagem; a recuperação do recém-nascido: o cuidado integrado mãe-equipe de enfermagem; desconhecimento das mães percebido pela equipe de enfermagem, que proporcionaram a compreensão que a equipe de enfermagem tem em relação às mães.Descritores: Equipe de Enfermagem, Mães, UTI Neonatal.Nursing team's view of mothers in the care of newborns in the neonatal intensive care unitThis work aimed to describe the nursing team's view of mothers in the care of newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit. An exploratory, descriptive study, with qualitative approach. The interview was the instrument used to collect the data, in accordance with the criteria of resolution CNS 196/1996. The data were analyzed through content analysis, which originated three categories: problems experienced by the nursing team; the recovery of the newborn: the mother-nursing team integrated care; lack of knowledge of the mothers perceived by the nursing team, which provided the understanding that the nursing team has in relation to the mothers.Descriptors: Nursing Team, Mothers, Neonatal ICU.Percepción de la enfermería con relación a las madres en el cuidado a los recién nacidos en la unidad de terapia intensiva neonatal.Se buscó describir la percepción del equipo de enfermería con relación a las madres en el cuidado a los recién nacidos en la unidad de terapia intensiva neonatal. Estudio del tipo exploratorio – descriptivo, con abordaje cualitativo. La entrevista fue el instrumento utilizado para la colecta de datos, obedeciendo a los criterios de la resolución CNS 196/1996. Los datos fueron analizados valiéndose del análisis de contenido, originando tres categorías: problemas vividos por el equipo de enfermería; la recuperación del recién nacido: el cuidado integrado madre – equipo de enfermería; desconocimiento de las madres percibido por el equipo de enfermería, que proporcionaron la comprensión que el equipo de enfermería tiene con relación a las madres.Descriptores: Equipo de Enfermería, Madres, CTI Neonatal.


2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reem M. Soliman ◽  
Fatma Alzahraah Mostafa ◽  
Antoine Abdelmassih ◽  
Elham Sultan ◽  
Dalia Mosallam

Abstract Background Patent ductus arteriosus poses diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma for clinicians, diagnosis of persistent PDA, and determination of its clinical and hemodynamic significance are challenging. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of PDA in preterm infants admitted to our NICU, to report cardiac and respiratory complications of PDA, and to study the management strategies and their subsequent outcomes. Result Echocardiography was done for 152 preterm babies admitted to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) on day 3 of life. Eighty-seven (57.2%) preterms had PDA; 54 (62.1%) non-hemodynamically significant PDA (non-hsPDA), and 33 (37.9%) hemodynamically significant PDA. Hemodynamically significant PDA received medical treatment (paracetamol 15 mg/kg/6 h IV for 3 days). Follow-up echocadiography was done on day 7 of life. Four babies died before echo was done on day 7. Twenty babies (68.9%) achieved closure after 1st paracetamol course. Nine babies received 2nd course paracetamol. Follow-up echo done on day 11 of life showed 4 (13.7%) babies achieved successful medical closure after 2nd paracetamol course; 5 babies failed closure and were assigned for surgical ligation. The group of non-hsPDA showed spontaneous closure after conservative treatment. Pulmonary hemorrhage was significantly higher in hsPDA group. Mortality was higher in hsPDA group than non-hsPDA group. Conclusion Echocardiographic evaluation should be done for all preterms suspected clinically of having PDA. We should not expose vulnerable population of preterm infants to medication with known side effects unnecessarily; we should limit medical closure of PDA to hsPDA. Paracetamol offers several important therapeutic advantages options being well tolerated and having more favorable side effects profile.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Hoffsten ◽  
Laszlo Markasz ◽  
Katharina Ericson ◽  
Leif D. Nelin ◽  
Richard Sindelar

AbstractReliable data on causes of death (COD) in preterm infants are needed to assess perinatal care and current clinical guidelines. In this retrospective observational analysis of all deceased preterm infants born < 37 weeks’ gestational age (n = 278) at a Swedish tertiary neonatal intensive care unit, we compared preliminary COD from Medical Death Certificates with autopsy defined COD (2002–2018), and assessed changes in COD between two periods (period 1:2002–2009 vs. period 2:2011–2018; 2010 excluded due to centralized care and seasonal variation in COD). Autopsy was performed in 73% of all cases and was more than twice as high compared to national infant autopsy rates (33%). Autopsy revised or confirmed a suspected preliminary COD in 34.9% of the cases (23.6% and 11.3%, respectively). Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) as COD increased between Period 1 and 2 (5% vs. 26%). The autopsy rate did not change between the two study periods (75% vs. 71%). We conclude that autopsy determined the final COD in a third of cases, while the incidence of NEC as COD increased markedly during the study period. Since there is a high risk to determine COD incorrectly based on clinical findings in preterm infants, autopsy remains a valuable method to obtain reliable COD.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Jenn Gonya ◽  
Jessica Niski ◽  
Nicole Cistone

The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is, inherently, a trauma environment for the extremely premature infant. This trauma is often exacerbated by nurse caregiving practices that can be modified and still remain effective. Our study explored how behavior analytics could be used to implement an intervention known as Care by Cues and how the intervention might, ultimately, impact infant physiologic stability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 336-343
Author(s):  
Katherine Guttmann ◽  
John Flibotte ◽  
Sara B. DeMauro ◽  
Holli Seitz

This study aimed to evaluate how parents of former neonatal intensive care unit patients with cerebral palsy perceive prognostic discussions following neuroimaging. Parent members of a cerebral palsy support network described memories of prognostic discussions after neuroimaging in the neonatal intensive care unit. We analyzed responses using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, manual content analysis, and thematic analysis. In 2015, a total of 463 parents met eligibility criteria and 266 provided free-text responses. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count analysis showed that responses following neuroimaging contained negative emotion. The most common components identified through the content analysis included outcome, uncertainty, hope/hopelessness, and weakness in communication. Thematic analysis revealed 3 themes: (1) Information, (2) Communication, and (3) Impact. Parents of children with cerebral palsy report weakness in communication relating to prognosis, which persists in parents’ memories. Prospective work to develop interventions to improve communication between parents and providers in the neonatal intensive care unit is necessary.


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