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Specifics of nursing care, focusing on the needs and developmental care for infants with extremely low birth weight
TOMKOVÁ, Věra
Neonatology is a branch of medicine which consists of the medical care not only of healthy newborn infants, but also of the ill or premature ones. The number of the premature born infants increases constantly worldwide. It might be caused by women postponing their pregnancies, and very likely also by the growing number of pregnancies achieved by the assisted reproductive technologies. Thanks to improvements in perinatal care of risk pregnancies, guiding preterm labour, and development of neonatal intensive care, it has become possible to save more infants born at the very margin of viability with an extremely low birth weight. The diagnostic, therapeutic and nursing techniques have been developing steadily. It's the methods providing maximum comfort for the child and ensuring the quality of their later life that have been put into forefront. They are a set of measures, which do not disturb the child's reflex behaviour; they support its physiological stability, and thus foster growth and development of the immature organism. The aim of this diploma work is to map the specific needs of the newborn infants with an extremely low birth weight, to find out how these needs are satisfied during the first days after birth, and to determine, how the nursing care supporting the development of the infants takes place in the real life. The theoretical part of the diploma work is based on the scientific papers and resources. The empirical part is based on an observation method, which was carried out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the University Hospital in Pilsen. The survey proved that the infants' needs are not only on the biological level, but also on the emotional level, and they need appropriate sensomotoric stimulation. The outcomes of the observation show that the greatest problem of the newborn infants with an extremely low birth weight is to satisfy the biological needs i.e. breathing, feeding and defecation. The need of safety and stimulation was satisfied only partly. Based on the information collected by observing the nursing staff, it was possible to lay out areas with a potential to improve the individualized care of the newborns with an extremely low birth weight. These are, above all, the increased level of noise at the unit and thus the sense of sleep and wakefulness of the infants. Furthermore, it's the stimulation of the children and the communication with the parents. The outcomes of the empirical part of this diploma work will be presented at the seminar of the perinatal centre.
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