The purpose of this project is to develop a self-administered developmental care program that will be utilized by the staff of the neonatal ICU at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Colton, CA.

M.Cur. / With reference to the question whether the interhospital transport of ill neonates in South Africa and more specifically in the Transvaal is adequate, a study was done in which the quality of the interhospital transport of ill neonates on the Witwatersrand was investigated. Criteria for the interhospital transport of ill neonates were formulated according to a literature review and they were validated. The quality of interhospital transport of ill neonates on the Witwatersrand was researched according to the formulated criteria. The case study method was used and was applied to neonates who were transported to a selected private- and provincial hospital by private- and provincial ambulance services between May 1987 and June 1987. Through the results of the study the researcher came to the conclusion that the interhospital transport of ill neonates on the Witwatersrand is inadequate. Recommendations which may contribute to the improvement of the transport system were made.

Thesis (MScMedSc (Interdisciplinary Health Sciences. Speech-Language and Hearing Therapy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Noise is a noxious stimulus with possible negative physiological effects on the infant, especially in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The present study conducted a detailed noise assessment in a NICU of a state hospital in the Cape Metropole and documented 6 infants’ physiological responses to noise levels. Noise levels ranged from 62.3-66.7dBA (LAeq), which exceed all American and British standards (50dBA -60dBA) for a NICU. Continuous exposure to noise of these levels is potentially harmful to the infants’ auditory system and health stability. The general well-being of the staff working in the NICU may also be compromised. Analysis of the noise events revealed that staff conversations were the largest single contributor to the number of noise events, while the largest single non-human contributor was the alarm noise of the monitors. No significant correlations were found between the heart rates and noise levels and the respiratory rates and the noise levels for any of the participants in either room. The NICU was found to be an extremely reverberant environment, which suggested that the NICU noise levels were largely a result of reverberant noise reinforcements. NICU nursing staff’s most common suggestion for noise abatement strategies was reduction of staff conversation. Results of this study highlight the need for NICU noise abatement to optimise newborn patient care, reduce the risk of acoustic trauma and to improve the neonate’s quality of life, thus enhancing the infant’s physiologic stability, growth and health.

A lesão nasal decorrente do uso da ventilação não invasiva (VNI) é um evento adverso cada vez mais comum nas unidades de terapia intensiva neonatais (UTIN) e apresenta consequências a curto e longo prazo. Esta lesão pode resultar em sequelas tanto de ordem estética quanto funcional, limitar o uso da VNI em RN que necessita desse suporte ventilatório, causar desconforto e septicemia; podendo aumentar, desta forma, o tempo de internamento na UTIN. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo avaliar tecnológica e clinicamente os protetores nasais empregados na VNI de RN internados na UTIN. A metodologia consistiu primeiramente em levantar as possíveis causas da lesão nasal e avaliar os fatores de risco associados ao seu desenvolvimento. Em seguida, foi realizado um ensaio clínico randomizado para comparar os efeitos de três tipos de proteção nasal e das prongas novas e esterilizadas sobre a gravidade da lesão nasal. E por fim, foi realizada a caracterização térmica e estrutural dos protetores nasais após serem envelhecidas com temperatura e umidade no interior da incubadora neonatal. As principais causas da lesão foram relacionadas às características do material, a problemas no equipamento, a fatores assistenciais, neonatais e profissionais. Neste estudo, foram constatados como fatores de risco: a idade gestacional, a massa ao nascer, o tempo total de permanência na VNI, a reutilização deste suporte, o tempo da primeira utilização e da reutilização da VNI, bem como o tempo de internação na UTIN. Não foram observadas diferenças significativas na gravidade da lesão quando comparadas as três proteções estudadas, nem quando utilizadas prongas novas e esterilizadas. Quanto à análise dos materiais, foi constatado que a exposição à temperatura e à umidade alterou a percentagem de cristalinidade e a rugosidade das proteções nasais estudadas. / The nasal injury resulting from the use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is an adverse event increasingly common in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) and shows the short and long term consequences. This lesion can result both aesthetic and functional sequelae, limit the use of NIV in newborns who need this ventilatory support, cause discomfort and septicemia, may thereby increase the length of stay in NICU. This research aims to evaluate technological and clinically nasal protectors used with NIV of newborns admitted to the NICU. The methodology consisted primarily in raising the possible causes of nasal injury and assess the risk factors associated with its development. Then, it was conducted a randomized clinical trial to compare the effects of three kind of nasal protector and new and sterilized prongs on the severity of nasal lesions. And finally, it was performed the thermal and structural characterization of nasal protection after being aged with temperature and humidity inside the neonatal incubator. The main causes of injury were related to characteristics of the material, equipment problems, assistive, neonatal and professional factors. In this study, it was found as risk factors: gestational age, weight at birth, the total time stay in the NIV, the reuse of this support, the time of first use and reuse of NIV and the length of stay in the NICU. They were not observed significant differences in lesion severity when compared the three protectors studied, nor when used new and sterilized prongs. The materials analysis indicated that exposure to temperature and humidity changed the percentage of crystallinity and the roughness of the nasal protections studied.

A lesão nasal decorrente do uso da ventilação não invasiva (VNI) é um evento adverso cada vez mais comum nas unidades de terapia intensiva neonatais (UTIN) e apresenta consequências a curto e longo prazo. Esta lesão pode resultar em sequelas tanto de ordem estética quanto funcional, limitar o uso da VNI em RN que necessita desse suporte ventilatório, causar desconforto e septicemia; podendo aumentar, desta forma, o tempo de internamento na UTIN. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo avaliar tecnológica e clinicamente os protetores nasais empregados na VNI de RN internados na UTIN. A metodologia consistiu primeiramente em levantar as possíveis causas da lesão nasal e avaliar os fatores de risco associados ao seu desenvolvimento. Em seguida, foi realizado um ensaio clínico randomizado para comparar os efeitos de três tipos de proteção nasal e das prongas novas e esterilizadas sobre a gravidade da lesão nasal. E por fim, foi realizada a caracterização térmica e estrutural dos protetores nasais após serem envelhecidas com temperatura e umidade no interior da incubadora neonatal. As principais causas da lesão foram relacionadas às características do material, a problemas no equipamento, a fatores assistenciais, neonatais e profissionais. Neste estudo, foram constatados como fatores de risco: a idade gestacional, a massa ao nascer, o tempo total de permanência na VNI, a reutilização deste suporte, o tempo da primeira utilização e da reutilização da VNI, bem como o tempo de internação na UTIN. Não foram observadas diferenças significativas na gravidade da lesão quando comparadas as três proteções estudadas, nem quando utilizadas prongas novas e esterilizadas. Quanto à análise dos materiais, foi constatado que a exposição à temperatura e à umidade alterou a percentagem de cristalinidade e a rugosidade das proteções nasais estudadas. / The nasal injury resulting from the use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is an adverse event increasingly common in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) and shows the short and long term consequences. This lesion can result both aesthetic and functional sequelae, limit the use of NIV in newborns who need this ventilatory support, cause discomfort and septicemia, may thereby increase the length of stay in NICU. This research aims to evaluate technological and clinically nasal protectors used with NIV of newborns admitted to the NICU. The methodology consisted primarily in raising the possible causes of nasal injury and assess the risk factors associated with its development. Then, it was conducted a randomized clinical trial to compare the effects of three kind of nasal protector and new and sterilized prongs on the severity of nasal lesions. And finally, it was performed the thermal and structural characterization of nasal protection after being aged with temperature and humidity inside the neonatal incubator. The main causes of injury were related to characteristics of the material, equipment problems, assistive, neonatal and professional factors. In this study, it was found as risk factors: gestational age, weight at birth, the total time stay in the NIV, the reuse of this support, the time of first use and reuse of NIV and the length of stay in the NICU. They were not observed significant differences in lesion severity when compared the three protectors studied, nor when used new and sterilized prongs. The materials analysis indicated that exposure to temperature and humidity changed the percentage of crystallinity and the roughness of the nasal protections studied.