Purpose This study compared nursing frequency, nursing time, and nursing intervention priorities depending on the method of neonatal induced hypothermia.
Methods We observed 15 neonatal subjects receiving therapeutic hypothermia for 3 days each. Forty-five nurses experienced with nursing neonatal patients under therapeutic hypothermia provided responses about nursing intervention priorities. Analyses with the chi-square, the Fisher exact test, the paired t-test, the Wilcoxon signed rank test, and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test were performed on the data using SAS version 9.4.
Results The frequency of nursing activities was higher for selective head therapeutic hypothermia (SHTH) than for systemic therapeutic hypothermia (STH), and nursing time was also significantly longer. In terms of nursing intervention priorities, there were priority differences in "risk for ineffective thermoregulation" and "risks for impaired skin integrity" for SHTH compared to STH.
Conclusion Since SHTH for neonatal therapeutic hypothermia requires more nursing time and frequent nursing activities than STH, STH is therefore recommended if the therapeutic efficacy is similar. Appropriate nursing personnel should be allocated for neonatal SHTH nursing. Nurses should be aware of nursing interventions for therapeutic hypothermia as the priorities are different for different methods of neonatal therapeutic hypothermia.
Purpose Maintaining body temperature is a key vital function of human beings, but little is known about how body temperature of high-risk infants is sustained during early life after birth. The aim of this study was to describe hypothermia in high-risk infants during their first week of life and examine demographic, environmental, and clinical attributors of hypothermia.
Methods A retrospective longitudinal study was done from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015. Medical records of 570 high-risk infants hospitalized at Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) of a university affiliated hospital were examined. Body temperature and related factors were assessed for seven days after birth.
Results A total of 336 events of hypothermia (212 mild and 124 moderate) occurred in 280 neonates (49.1%) and most events (84.5%) occurred within 24 hours after birth. Logistic regression analysis revealed that phototherapy (aOR=0.28, 95% CI=0.10-0.78), Apgar score at 5 minute (aOR=2.20, 95% CI=1.17-4.12), and intra-uterine growth retardation or small for gestational age (aOR=3.58, 95% CI=1.69-7.58) were statistically significant contributors to hypothermia.
Conclusion Findings indicate that high-risk infants are at risk for hypothermia even when in the NICU. More advanced nursing interventions are necessary to prevent hypothermia of high-risk infants.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Hypothermia in Extremely Low-Birth-Weight Infants After NICU Admission Seungjin Lee, Young Hwa Jung, Sun-Mi Chae Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nurs.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
Using a Plastic Drape to Reduce Hypothermia in Premature Neonates During Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter Placement Huong (Kelle) T. Phan, Teresa M. McIntyre Advances in Neonatal Care.2022; 22(3): 193. CrossRef
PURPOSE To investigate the effects of a warm water-filled bag on body temperature, Oxygen demand, respiratory rate and blood sugar in high risk neonates. METHOD The infants were assigned to two groups, 16 in the experimental and 20 in the control group. Infants in the experimental group was received 40~42 degrees C warm water-filled bag therapy for 2 hours under radiant warmers.
Infants in the control group were placed under the same kind of radiant warmers but without the warm water-filled bag.
The following were measured every 30 minutes: rectal temperature, O2 demand (FiO2), and respiratory rate. Blood sugar was measured hourly. RESULT Body temperatures increased significantly in the experimental group (P=0.0138), and there was a difference according to time (P=0.0001). Significant difference were found between the two groups for FiO2 (P=0.0180). There was no difference in respiratory rates between the two groups and rates according to time for the experimental group were also not significant (P=0.3569). No significant difference between two groups was found for blood sugar(P=0.2152), but there was a significant difference according to the times (P=0.0001). CONCLUSION This results of this study indicate that a warm-filled bag is an effective means of resorting body temperature and reducing O2 demand in high risk neonates.