Nurses’ Opinions on the Barriers to Effective Implementation of Developmental Care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Background: Theimplementationof developmentalcareinneonatalintensivecareunit(NICU)savesneonates’ energyandstabilizestheirphysiology,reducesstressinthemandtheirfamily,anddecreaseshospitalizationtimeandhealthcarecosts. Theroleof aneonatalnurseiscrucialforanappropriateandsuccessfulexecutionof developmentalcareinNICU.Thisstudywasconductedto evaluatenurses’ opinionsonbarrierstoeffectiveimplementationof developmentalcareinNICUsof TehranUniversityof Medical Sciences. Methods: Thiswasacross-sectionalstudycarriedoutonatotalof 138nurseswhohadaminimumworkexperienceof sixmonths in NICUs. Data collecting tool was a 12-point questionnaire including questions related to 5 core measures of developmental care accordingtoCoughlin’sframeworkaswellasquestionsassociatedwithbarriersbasedonastudybyWu.Descriptiveandanalytical statisticswereusedfordataanalysis. Results: Themeanagefor138nurseswas31.76±5.41years(23-49years). ThemeanworkhistoryintheNICUwas4.36±3.58years. Of all nurses, 79.7% were found to be familiar with developmental care practice. Among participants, 56.4% mentioned most part of theirfamiliaritywithdevelopmentalcare; nursesmostlygainedfamiliaritywithdevelopmentalcareviainformationexchange withnurse colleagues. Themajority of participantsdescribed thatinadequatetime, inappropriate workenvironmentin termsof spaceandequipmentof NICU,andtoomanyrequestsbyparentsweremajorbarrierstodeliver5coremeasuresof developmental careinNICUs. Conclusions: Theimplementationof developmentalcarewashamperedbyseriousbarriers. Keywords: Barriers,DevelopmentalCare,NeonatalIntensiveCareUnit(NICU)