Essay Sample: How Nurses Assist Newborn Babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Objectives

To determine the approaches that have been adopted by nurses in helping neonates admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit and their parents

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To identify the training, the nurses have to undergo to be professional neonatal intensive care unit nurses

To find out how the pediatric nurses approach families during the process of assisting them in managing the worry of having their babies admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Research purpose

The study purpose was to examine existing literature concerning neonatal nursing and how the nurses assist the infants and their families in recovering from the conditions that put them in the neonatal intensive care unit. When a baby is sick the situation is said to have a great impact not only to the baby but also to its parents. Therefore, it is important for the pediatric nurses, especially those working at the neonatal intensive care unit section, to adopt appropriate approaches that will incorporate the baby's family in the process of caring for the baby which is the family-oriented care.

Thesis statement

Neonatal intensive care unit nursing involves taking care of infants born with various complications; neonatal intensive care unit nurses require various skills to conduct their practices. Such skills require training for an individual to become a qualified neonatal intensive care unit nurse.

Literature reviewCooper et al., (2007) discussed that parents are hardly ready for the hardships that come along with the neonatal intensive care unit surroundings. Such challenges include many cries, complex technologies, and the fragile state of the baby. Cooper et al., (2007) compared the parent's response to the delivery of babies with a health condition as a gradual process from a state of a traumatic experience which involves surprise, denial, wrath, bargaining, approval, and adaptation. Griffin, (2006) discussed that to manage the circumstances at the neonatal intensive care unit , considerable progress has been adopted in hospitals for effective provision of health care to the neonates. However, the advancement in technology has brought about both blessings and burdens to the families. Enhanced neonatal and obstetric involvements and aggressive recoveries have steadily enhanced the persistence of preterm babies and dropped the limits of sustainability. However, the life quality for extremely underweight neonate survivors is still a matter of concern in the neonatal intensive care unit. Harrison, (2010) explained that social policies and medical practices had positioned their priorities on aggressive baby care. However, the progressions have led to challenges in counselling the families of newborns who have been delivered at limited viability. Parents expect to be updated about the risks and benefits of the treatments and on the experimental state of the present treatment of babies before birth and after delivery. Parents should also be informed about the maternal-fetal dyad's complexity.

Morgan, (2009) explained that the neonatal experience's complexity puts a lot of demands on couples who might have no idea that their infant would have had problems such as premature birth. The sudden exclusion and transportation of the baby to another hospital or unit might complicate the emotional turmoil that the parents might be undergoing due to the beginning of their infant's illness. Griffin, (2006) argued that in most cases the parents to the baby usually feel completely unable to control their infant's condition. The thought of leaving the hospital without their babies due to their newborn's condition usually traumatizes most parents especially the mothers. Such cases need the intervention of a medical practitioner for the provision of quality and safe health care.

Cooper et al., (2007) explained that during the admission of the baby, parents spend most of the time at the neonatal intensive care unit section distressed. The stress is due to the constant travels to the hospital and separation from the rest of their family members as they have to take care of their newborns in the hospital. Cooper et al., (2007) claimed that all parents bring vulnerabilities and strengths to the acute care context the components can be valued and assessed in the association formed with the infant. Additionally, parents offer an environment of effective development for the baby in a cultivating relationship. Through the support and care for the families and their sick infants, the parent-child connection is enhanced.

Morgan, (2009) explained that most parents express limited appreciation for the skilled care and specialized technology that rescued their children's lives. However, other parents show much gratitude for the great care that was offered to them at the neonatal intensive care unit. Morgan, (2009) discussed that the mother was to be offered an opportunity of having the upper hand in the care of the babies admitted in neonatal intensive care unit . Therefore, when parents are motivated to make recommendations concerning the care for their children, they feel empowered and connected to the process thus ensuring that appropriate medical care is provided to the infants. However, Harrison, (2010) discussed that some health care experts always consider themselves as the ultimate providers of health care as they assume that they understand what is best for the infants, and thus they end up neglecting the families of the babies in the care process. Griffin, (2006) discussed that people who decide on working in the neonatal intensive care unit need to be more comfortable with providing care to the family of the child and the child. Harrison, (2010) argued that caring for both the baby and its parents has a possibility of imparting a positive effect on the treatment process.

Research method The research involved a review of online literature present in databases such as Pubmed, Science direct and Google scholar. The keywords searched for included neonatal intensive care unit, family-centered care and family-oriented healthcare provision. The online assessment resulted in the selection of five existing literature which was further evaluated about the five open-ended questions set for the study.

Results The traits of family-oriented care in the neonatal intensive care unit were acknowledged as equal family involvement, taking care of the family, knowledge transformation, respect for the family's dignity and collaboration. Equal family involvement means that the family members are allowed to participate in the provision of care, care planning, and decision making during the process of treatment at the neonatal intensive care unit. Taking care of family involves the valuation of the child's family, their requirements and provision of the needs - knowledge transformation referrers to the complete and effective sharing of information between the family and the healthcare workers. Respect for the family's dignity refers to the recognition and respect of the difference between various family tendencies. Collaboration means the inter-professional partnership with families and family contribution in the implementation and regulation of the care plans. Additionally, the study also leads in the identification of the management-organizational and professional factors within the neonatal intensive care unit (Morgan, 2009).

DiscussionSkills that are necessary for a pediatric NICU nurse Neonatal intensive care unit nurses require various skills for adequate care of the babies and their families. However, the primary skills needed include critical care abilities and efficiency, the skills are operative in the provision of care especially for the children who are in most cases fragile. The nurses need to be effective in their communication for equal and effective sharing of information with the families as well as for the provision of emotional support to the parents. Diligent charting and excellent assessment capabilities are also very significant skills for recoding even the slightest changes in the medical records.