Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association
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Comparative Study
Incongruence between nurses' and parents' perceptions of nurses' caring behaviors in a neonatal intensive care unit.
The primary purpose of this study was to test an instrument designed to assess nurses' caring behaviors in a neonatal intensive care unit, the setting for the study. The convenience sample (n = 88) was 42 nurses who worked in a neonatal intensive care unit and 46 parents whose infants were hospitalized there. ⋯ There was agreement on the most caring behavior, "The nurses understood my need to touch my baby and encouraged me to do so" and the least caring behavior, "The nurses did not know the sex of my child." However, a significant difference was found between the nurses and parents on 4 of the 15 behaviors. The findings serve to sensitize the clinicians to their caring behaviors by heightening their awareness of how caring behaviors are perceived by parents.
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To determine practices related to the use of pulse oximetry in monitoring infants of < 1500 gm birth weight on supplemental oxygen. ⋯ There is a need for greater awareness of the potential for hyperoxemia that may result from accepting an arterial pulse oxygen saturation level of 100% or setting high alarms at 100%. We urge stricter adherence to published recommendations.