The purpose of this review of literature is to understand the current state of the science and to make recommendations for practice and research in regards to the gastrointestinal condition affecting premature infants, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Emphasis is placed on reviewing the literature to identify prevention strategies nurses can use to reduce the incidence, morbidity and mortality of NEC. The introduction will focus on discussing the problem of NEC including its risk factors, pathophysiology, and disease presentation. The findings sections will focus on the most promising and researched areas of intervention. The discussion section will focus on how this knowledge can be translated into practice and what nurses can do about it. The research will be conducted through nursing databases with conceptual primary sources that will further expand upon the selected studies on this topic.

Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung condition that is diagnosed among neonates who are on oxygen therapy for longer than 28 days. BPD causes insufficient gas exchange due to prematurely developed lungs and is the most common condition that causes morbidity of prematurity. Many risk factors contribute to the development of this condition and relate to care from the delivery room to the first few days of life. Purpose: The purpose of this literature review is to examine risk factors related to the development of BPD in neonates from the gestational ages of 24 to 32 weeks. Methods: To examine the risk factors of BPD, a literature review was conducted using CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Ancestry searching was used as another method of extracting articles. The time frame of literature was within the last ten years, 2013-2023. Results: The literature review revealed that common risk factors for BPD include intubations, prolonged time intubated, reintubations, low birth weight, sepsis, low 5- minute APGAR score, delayed caffeine, invasive surfactant administration, antenatal steroid treatment, and less than 32 weeks gestational age. Conclusion: Nurses can recognize risk factors that place their patients at risk for BPD and can mediate the risks or anticipate the care of a patient with a high-risk potential for BPD. Overall, the care provided by the nurse should reflect preventative measures and anticipatory care to ensure positive patient outcomes. Some of these measures include kangaroo care, clustering care, noise reduction, decreased environmental stimulation, respecting sleep, teaching parents about breastfeeding, and advocating for prenatal care. Nurses need education to increase awareness and decrease the incidence of these risk factors.