Research in nursing & health
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Improving cognitive development of low-birth-weight premature infants with the COPE program: a pilot study of the benefit of early NICU intervention with mothers.
The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a parent-focused intervention program (COPE) on infant cognitive development and maternal coping. A randomized clinical trial was conducted with 42 mothers of low-birth-weight (LBW) premature infants hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), with follow-up at 3 months' and 6 months' corrected ages. COPE mothers received the four-phase educational-behavioral program that began 2-4 days postbirth and continued through 1 week following discharge from the NICU. ⋯ Results indicated that COPE infants had significantly higher mental development scores at a 3 months' corrected age (M = 100.3) than did the comparison infants (M = 93.9), and this difference widened at 6 months' corrected age, with COPE infants scoring 14 points higher. COPE mothers were significantly less stressed by the NICU sights and sounds and had significantly stronger beliefs about what behaviors and characteristics to expect from their premature infants. Findings from this study support the need for further testing of early NICU interventions with parents to determine their effectiveness on parental coping and infant developmental outcomes.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Testing a preoperative pain management intervention for elders.
The investigators examined whether elders who have been taught pain management communication skills and pain management information obtain greater postoperative pain relief than elders not taught this information. Thirty-one elders were randomly assigned preoperatively to a control or communication group in this posttest-only experiment with repeated measures. Communication group participants were taught pain management, pain communication skills, and the use of two pain-intensity scales. ⋯ The communication group elders reported less postoperative pain over the course of their hospital stay. Pain management knowledge alone may have enabled the elders to obtain greater pain relief. Nurses may want to incorporate similar pain management information and pain communication skills when teaching elders how to obtain greater postoperative pain relief.