Nurses` Knowledge and Practices regarding Hypothermia for Preterm Infants

Document Type : Scientific peer reviewed journal

Authors

1 Nursing Specialist at El Shohdaa Hospital, Benha University, Egypt

2 Professor of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing - Benha University, Egypt

3 Assistant Professor of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing - Benha University, Egypt

Abstract

 Background: Hypothermia is a major factor in infant`s morbidity and mortality in developing
countries. So, maintaining normal body temperature in preterm infants is crucial. Aim of study: The
aim of this study was to assess nurses' knowledge and practices regarding hypothermia for preterm
infants. Design: A descriptive design was utilized to conduct this study. Settings: This study was
carried out in neonatal intensive care units of Benha University hospital, and Benha Specialized
Pediatric Hospital at Benha city. Sample: A convenient sample of 150 nurses and 200 preterm infants
were taken from the previous mentioned hospitals. Tools of data collection: Two tools were used:
tool (1): Arabic structured interviewing questionnaire and tool (2): An observational check list.
Results: Slightly more than one third of the studied nurses were in age groups less than 30 years with
mean ± SD (33.16±8.04) years old, two fifth of the studied nurses have diploma of technical institute
of nursing and have experience equal 15 years or more. More than half of the studied nurses had
average knowledge level regarding hypothermia and more than two thirds of them had poor practices.
Conclusion: There was a highly statistically significant relation between total nurses` knowledge and
practices regarding prevention of hypothermia with their characteristics. Again, there was a highly
statistically significant positive correlation between the studied nurses` total knowledge scores and
their total practices scores. Recommendations: The importance of developing periodical training
programs for all nurses working at Neonatal Intensive Care Units regarding care of preterm infants
with hypothermia to update their performance. 

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Journal of Nursing Science Benha University
Volume 4, Issue 2
July 2023
Pages 137-151

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