Knowledge, Performance and Perceptions of Nurses in NICUs and Neonatal Units about Kangaroo Care and its barriers

kangaroo care as a suitable and effective method of care for low birth weight and premature newborns and also their health promotion has been known in various countries around the world. Regarding the importance of nurses’ knowledge and performance about this kind of care, the study aimed to examine knowledge, performance and perceptions of nurses in NICUs and neonatal units of hospitals in Yazd city about kangaroo care and its barriers. It was a cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 62 nurses working in NICUs and neonatal units of 6 hospitals of Yazd city. Data was collected by Kangaroo Care Questionnaire (KCQs) and analyzed by person correlation coefficient test using SPSS-PC (v. 16). According to the findings 69/5% of the sample reported that kangaroo care has been done in their work place and 82.8% reported that they have recommend kangaroo care to mothers. From the samples’ view, nurses’ refuse to participate in kangaroo care (30/9%) and this belief that "Incubator care is more effective than kangaroo care" (37/9%) were the most important barriers to kangaroo care. There was also a significant positive relationship between the constructs of knowledge and benefits with disadvantages and appropriateness (p< 0/01), and nurses’ age and working experience (p<0/05). Regarding the high percent of participation in kangaroo care, it seems that education and encouragement could be effective for the continuation of the method. In service education is also recommended to remove barriers.