Abstract
The purpose of this study was to monitor nursing care provided in association with endotracheal suction, and particularly to identify the physiological and behavioral responses of preterm infants to nursing care provided after endotracheal suction.
The subjects were four preterm infants undergoing respiratory management. Their post conceptional age at the time of observation was 26 to 35 weeks, and their mean body weight was 792.5g.
Nursing care provided in association with endotracheal suction and the infants' heart rate, oxygen saturation, stress signs, and sleep-wakefulness state were systematically monitored every 2 minutes from 5 minutes before the start of endotracheal suction until 20 minutes after its completion.
Multiple kinds of care, including maintenance in the prone position and flexed posture, and provision of tactile stimulation were provided after endotracheal suction. A total of 45 settings in which several different kinds of care were provided were classified as the“multiple care group”, and 70 settings in which the infants adopted the prone or side lying position as the“single care group”, and the infants' responses were analyzed accordingly.
Stress signs decreased more rapidly, the duration of quiet sleep was longer, and the latency until the start of quiet sleep was significantly shorter in the multiple care group in comparison with the single care group.
These results suggest that the use of multiple kinds of care after invasive stimulation in the form of endotracheal suction is an effective nursing method for organizing the motor and state of preterm infants.
