Effects of Bedside Nurses’ and Mothers’ Training on the Positioning Score of Premature Infants Hospitalized in NICU: A Clinical Trial

Positioning of hospitalized premature neonates is important because they often suffer from hypotonia, which can affect their development. Keeping the baby in the right position is one of the duties of nurses, and on the other hand, parents' participation is one of the most effective ways to prevent injuries caused by the hospitalization of premature neonates. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effect of bedside nurses’ and mothers’ education on the positioning score of premature infants admitted to NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). In this pre-post study, 41 nurses and 7 mothers of premature neonates hospitalized in the NICU of Shahid Sadoughi hospital, Yazd, Iran, from May to June 2022, were included. The infants’ positioning score was recorded through the Infant Positioning Assessment Tool (IPAT) on three consecutive days during three stages. Then the nurses and mothers were subjected to an interactive training course, including two theoretical and practical parts for one week, and the positioning score of the infants was re-checked one week and one month after the training. The data were analyzed using Wilcoxon, Friedman, Bonferroni, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov post hoc tests in SPSS software version 24. The results of the present study showed that there was a significant difference among the mean positioning scores of the infants before the education (5.59 ± 2.82), one week after (9.28 ± 2.91), and one month after the education (9.86± 2.64) (P <0.001). Training nurses and mothers can improve the positioning score of premature infants in NICU and provide them with better developmental care. To achieve the ideal level of support for premature infants and better neurodevelopment, it is necessary to continue training and monitoring nurses' performance in this area.