Developmental Care for Preterm Infant in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nursing Practice Guidelines and Nursing Sensitive Indicators

Abstract

Most preterm infants are born in the third trimester of pregnancy, the period of time in which fetal nervous system is rapidly development. Preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) must adapt to various environment and stimuli that is quite different from the womb resulting in high risk of neurodevelopmental disorder. This article presents guideline for caring and promoting development of preterm infants using the age-appropriate care of the premature and critically ill hospitalized infant guideline for practice of the Neonatal Association Neonatal Nurses, the neonatal integrative developmental care model of Altimer and Philips, and the nursing sensitive indicators. The framework of care comprises 1) healing environment 2) sleep promotion 3) assessment and management of pain and stress 4) daily routine care based on the principle of infant development, and 5) family-centered care, as being a guideline for NICU nurses to promote development of preterm infants to achieve proper neurological development for their age.