Neonatal nurses' beliefs about almost continuous parent-infant skin-to-skin contact in neonatal intensive care.

Aims And Objectives: To describe what nurses believe about almost continuous skin-to-skin contact for preterm infants between 32(0) -36(0)  weeks gestation.

Background: Skin-to-skin contact a few hours per day has become standard care for preterm infants in most high-technology neonatal intensive care units. However, few units practice Kangaroo Mother Care which involves almost continuous skin-to-skin contact.

Effects on postoperative salivary cortisol of relaxation/music and patient teaching about pain management.

The physiological and psychological stress of surgery and postoperative pain can leave patients more susceptible to infection and complications. The present study was designed to determine whether two interventions, patient teaching (PT) for pain management and relaxation/music (RM), reduced cortisol levels, an indicator of stress, following abdominal surgery. Patients (18-75 years) were randomly assigned to receive PT, RM, a combination of the two, or usual care; the 205 patients with both pre- and posttest cortisol values were analyzed.

Supplementing relaxation and music for pain after surgery.

Background: Most postoperative patients have unrelieved pain despite the use of patient-controlled analgesia. Nurses need additional effective modalities. Relaxation and music (RM), in addition to analgesics, have been shown to reduce pain more than do analgesics alone.

Effect of early skin-to-skin contact on mother-preterm infant interaction through 18 months: randomized controlled trial.

Background: Preterm birth often negatively influences mother-infant interaction. Skin-to-skin contact postbirth has positive effects on maternal feelings toward their preterm infants and on infant development and family interaction. However, little is known about the long-term effects of skin-to-skin contact on mother-late preterm infant interaction when skin-to-skin contact was experienced early postbirth and intermittently throughout the next five days.

Skin-to-skin contact for culturally diverse women having breastfeeding difficulties during early postpartum.

Background: Early breastfeeding (BF) cessation is more common in black women and women who experience BF difficulties during early postpartum. Skin-to-skin contact (SSC) during early postpartum promotes and sustains BF. The focus of this secondary analysis is on BF status and maternal race/ethnicity.

Kangaroo care and breastfeeding of mother-preterm infant dyads 0-18 months: a randomized, controlled trial.

Purpose: To determine the effects of kangaroo care (KC) (skin-to-skin contact) on breastfeeding status in mother-preterm infant dyads from postpartum through 18 months.

Design: Randomized, controlled trial. The control group received standard nursery care; in the intervention group, unlimited KC was encouraged.

Randomized controlled trial of very early mother-infant skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding status.

This study was done to evaluate effects of maternal-infant skin-to-skin contact during the first 2 hours postbirth compared to standard care (holding the infant swaddled in blankets) on breastfeeding outcomes through 1 month follow-up. Healthy primiparous mother-infant dyads were randomly assigned by computerized minimization to skin-to-skin contact (n = 10) or standard care (n = 10). The Infant Breastfeeding Assessment Tool was used to measure success of first breastfeeding and time to effective breastfeeding (time of the first of three consecutive scores of 10-12).

Interruptions to breastfeeding dyads on postpartum day 1 in a university hospital.

Objective: To describe interruptions (door openings and telephone calls) to breastfeeding dyads on postpartum day 1.

Design: A descriptive design of continuous observations of persons entering the mother's room plus record of phone calls from 8 a.m.

Development of an observational instrument to measure mother-infant separation post birth.

The importance of the timing, quality, and quantity of early maternal-infant contact has gained prominence over the years. However, no researcher has adequately documented the nature of maternal-infant contact and separation. This study assessed the psychometric properties of the Index of Mother-Infant Separation (IMIS), pronounced "I miss," which is a 37-item observational measure of the process of mother-infant contact or separation post birth.

Newborn temperature during skin-to-skin breastfeeding in couples having breastfeeding difficulties.

Background: Kangaroo (skin-to-skin contact) care facilitates the maintenance of safe temperatures in newborn infants. Concern persists that infants will become cold while breastfeeding, however, especially if in skin-to-skin contact with the mother. This concern might be especially realistic for infants experiencing breastfeeding difficulties.

Relaxation and music reduce pain following intestinal surgery.

Three nonpharmacological nursing interventions, relaxation, chosen music, and their combination, were tested for pain relief following intestinal (INT) surgery in a randomized clinical trial. The 167 patients were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups or control and were tested during ambulation and rest on postoperative days 1 and 2. Pain sensation and distress were measured with visual analog scales (VAS).

Grief, anxiety, stillbirth, and perinatal problems: healing with kangaroo care.

A young, anxious mother's first pregnancy was eclamptic, her placenta was underperfused, and her son was stillborn. She carried grief, guilt, anxiety, and hypervigilance into her next preeclamptic pregnancy, birth (of her small-for-dates son), and early postpartum period. When breastfeeding difficulties developed, the authors intervened with three consecutive (skin-to-skin) breastfeedings.

Obtaining parotid saliva specimens after major surgery.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a standard method of collecting saliva from postoperative patients. Saliva was collected from patients following major abdominal surgery from both parotid glands in intraoral cups and measured in milliliters. Trained research nurses stimulated saliva production with lemon juice and collected saliva at 4 time points on postoperative day 2.

Randomized controlled trial of kangaroo care: cardiorespiratory and thermal effects on healthy preterm infants.

Purpose: To determine the safety and effects on healthy preterm infants of three continuous hours of kangaroo care (KC) compared to standard NICU care by measuring cardiorespiratory and thermal responses.

Design: Randomized controlled trial-pretest-test-posttest control group design.

Sample: Twenty-four healthy preterm infants (33-35 weeks gestation at birth) nearing discharge.

Kangaroo (skin-to-skin) care with a preterm infant before, during, and after mechanical ventilation.

Using kangaroo care (KC) with unstable and/or ventilated infants remains controversial. In this article, potential advantages for ventilated infants and their mothers are discussed. The 33-week-gestation infant in this case study presented with mild respiratory distress at birth, requiring supplemental oxygen at hour 2.

Mother-newborn contact in a randomized trial of kangaroo (skin-to-skin) care.

Objective: To describe the type and percent time of contact 0-48 hours postbirth for mother-preterm newborn (infant) dyads given kangaroo care (skin-to-skin) or standard care (controls).

Design: Randomized controlled trial with assignment by computerized minimization to kangaroo care (n = 48) or control (n = 43).

Setting: Postpartum units and neonatal intensive-care units (NICU).

Effects of prone and supine positions on sleep state and stress responses in mechanically ventilated preterm infants during the first postnatal week.

Background/rationale: Preterm infants in mechanical ventilation are vulnerable and may manifest physiological instability and a disorganized behavioural state when responding to external stimuli. Adequate positioning strategies may play an important role in protecting infants from environmental stressor and assisting quality of sleep. However, no study has examined effects of prone and supine positions on behavioural state and stress signs including startle, tremor, and twitch responses for ventilated preterm infants during the critical first week postbirth.

Kangaroo care for adoptive parents and their critically ill preterm infant.

In this case study kangaroo care (KC) was facilitated for an adoptive mother and father who were planning to attend the birth of the infant they had arranged to adopt. Unexpectedly, the birth mother delivered at 27 weeks gestation. The infant was critically ill and required mechanical ventilation.

Relaxation and music reduce pain after gynecologic surgery.

The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to investigate the effect of three nonpharmacologic nursing interventions: relaxation, music, and the combination of relaxation and music on pain following gynecologic (GYN) surgery. A total of 311 patients, ages 18 to 70, from five Midwestern hospitals, were randomly assigned using minimization to either three intervention groups or a control group and were tested during ambulation and rest on postoperative days 1 and 2. Pain sensation and distress were measured using visual analogue scales.

Decreased activity and oxygen desaturation in prone ventilated preterm infants during the first postnatal week.

Objective: To compare the effects of supine and prone positions on oxygen saturation (SpO(2)), desaturation episodes (SpO(2) < 90% and >or= 20 seconds), and motor activity in ventilated preterm infants during their first postnatal week.

Design: With use of a crossover design, we randomly assigned infants to a supine/prone or prone/supine position sequence. Infants were placed in each position for 2 hours.