Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2011 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 6 Articles
Newborns and infants are often exposed to painful procedures during hospitalization. Several different scales have been validated to assess pain in specific populations of pediatric patients, but no single scale can easily and accurately assess pain in all newborns and infants regardless of gestational age and disease state. A new pain scale was developed, the COVERS scale, which incorporates 6 physiological and behavioral measures for scoring. Newborns admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or Well Baby Nursery were evaluated for pain/discomfort during two procedures, a heel prick and a diaper change. Pain was assessed using indicators from three previously established scales (CRIES, the Premature Infant Pain Profile, and the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale), as well as the COVERS Scale, depending upon gestational age. Premature infant testing resulted in similar pain assessments using the COVERS and PIPP scales with an r=0.84. For the full-term infants, the COVERS scale and NIPS scale resulted in similar pain assessments with an r=0.95. The COVERS scale is a valid pain scale that can be used in the clinical setting to assess pain in newborns and infants and is universally applicable to all neonates, regardless of their age or physiological state....
The advancement in medical science has created health care environments that require nursing professionals who posses specialized clinical knowledge and skills to provide care and deal with critically and acutely ill children. This study explored gaps between knowledge and practice as perceived by the registered nurses of pediatric units by further recommending the changes suggested by them. A descriptive exploratory study design under the quantitative research methodology was utilized using universal sampling of all pediatric nurses working at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. The gaps between knowledge and practice, as perceived by the participants, were categorized into five major categories: (1) medication (34%), (2) skills (28.3%), (3) knowledge (13.36%), (4) handling of code blue and intubations (12.6%), and (5) operating medical devices (11.58%). As a result, anxiety and incompetency were notably seen in the participants which had great amount of impact on the level of care provided to the patients. The implications of the findings for quality patient care were also analyzed....
Background:\nStudies carried out in developing countries have indicated that training courses in newborn resuscitation are efficacious in teaching local birth attendants how to properly utilize simple resuscitation devices. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and expertise gained by physicians and midwifes who participated in a Neonatal Resuscitation Course and workshop organized in a Third World Country on the use of Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA).\nMethods: \nA 28-item questionnaire, derived from the standard test contained in the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics Neonatal Resuscitation Manual, was administered to 21 physicians and 7 midwifes before and after a course, which included a practical, hands-on workshop focusing on LMA positioning and bag-ventilation in a neonatal manikin.\nResults:\nThe knowledge gained by the physicians was superior to that demonstrated by the midwifes. The physicians, in fact, demonstrated a significant improvement with respect to their pre-course knowledge. Both the physicians and the midwives showed a good level of expertise in manipulating the manipulating the manikin\nduring the practical trial session. The midwifes and physicians almost unanimously manifested a high degree of approval of neonatal resuscitation by LMA, as they defined it a sustainable and cost-effective method requiring minimal expertise.\nConclusions: \nFurther studies are warranted to test the advantages and limits of the neonatal LMA training courses in developing countries....
Background. \r\nProlonged rupture of membranes (PROM) is a common and significant cause of preterm labor and has a major impact on neonatal morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to determine maternal risk factors and the prevalence rate of neonatal complications following PROM . This study also detected the role of maternal antimicrobial treatment on neonatal complications.\r\nMethods: \r\nThis cross-sectional study was performed at Ghaem hospital, Mashhad, Iran; from March 2008 to April 2010 to evaluate newborns� outcome that were born from mothers with prolonged premature rupture of membranes (PROM> 18 hours). Maternal risk factors, antibiotic administration and its influences on neonatal complications were evaluated. Eligible infants were categorized into group I\r\n(symptomatic infants), II (mother with chorioamnionitis) and III (asymptomatic infants).\r\nResults.\r\n150 infants were included in the study. 12 (7.7%) infants had definitive infections (meningitis, sepsis, pneumonia), 101(67%) infants were premature and 88(58.6%) infants had mothers with a history of antibiotic intake. Maternal risk factors were reported in the following order: previous PROM (10%), addiction (8%), high urinary tract infection (5/3%), diabetes (4.7%), placenta abruption (4.7%), preeclampsia (3/3%) and cercelage (2%). Neonatal complications related with PROM were prematurity (67.3%), respiratory distress syndrome (22.6%), asphyxia (8.6%), meningitis (5.2%), sepsis (4%), pneumonia (1.3%) and death (4.6%). History of antibiotic administration to mothers with PROM was negative in four babies with sepsis and one with meningitis.\r\nConclusion. \r\nThe most common complication of PROM was prematurity and its side effects, but infection is the most important modifiable complication. Although antimicrobial treatment of women with a history of PROM improves neonatal outcome through reducing neonatal sepsis and respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), but the incidence rate of meningitis and pneumonia may be increased....
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Background\nThe subject of death and bereavement in the context of randomised controlled trials in neonatal or paediatric intensive care is under-researched. The objectives of this phase of the Bereavement and RAndomised ControlLEd Trials (BRACELET) Study were to determine trial activity in UK neonatal and paediatric intensive care (2002-06); numbers of deaths before hospital discharge; and variation in mortality across intensive care units and trials and to determine whether bereavement support policies were available within trials. These are essential prerequisites to considering the implications of future policies and practice subsequent to bereavement following a child's enrolment in a trial. \nMethods\nThe units survey involved neonatal units providing level 2 or 3 care, and paediatric units providing level II care or above; the trials survey involved trials where allocation was randomized and interventions were delivered to intensive care patients, or to parents but designed to affect patient outcomes. \nResults\nInformation was available from 191/220 (87%) neonatal units (149 level 2 or 3 care); and 28/32 (88%) paediatric units. 90/177 (51%) eligible responding units participated in one or more trial (76 neonatal, 14 paediatric) and 54 neonatal units and 6 paediatric units witnessed at least one death. 50 trials were identified (36 neonatal, 14 paediatric). 3,137 babies were enrolled in neonatal trials, 210 children in paediatric trials. Deaths ranged 0-278 (median [IQR interquartile range] 2 [1, 14.5]) per neonatal trial, 0-4 (median [IQR] 1 [0, 2.5]) per paediatric trial. 534 (16%) participants died post-enrolment: 522 (17%) in neonatal trials, 12 (6%) in paediatric trials. Trial participants ranged 1-236 (median [IQR] 21.5 [8, 39.8]) per neonatal unit, 1-53 (median [IQR] 11.5 [2.3, 33.8]) per paediatric unit. Deaths ranged 0-37 (median [IQR] 3.5 [0.3, 8.8]) per neonatal unit, 0-7 (median [IQR] 0.5 [0, 1.8]) per paediatric unit. Three trials had a formal policy for responding to bereavement. \nConclusions\nA substantial number of deaths after trial enrolment were identified, distributed over many trials and units. Few trial teams had responses to bereavement in place. Those with the largest numbers of deaths might be best placed to collaborate in developing and assessing responses to bereavement....
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