Determination of information requirements of mothers with regard to taking care of their premature babies who have hospitalised in the neonatal intensive care unit

Abstract

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the information needs of mothers in regards to taking care of their premature babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted at a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a university hospital. Mothers of premature babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit constituted the universe of this study. G-power 3.1 program was used to determine the sample size. As a result of calculations made according to margin of error as 5% and power as 80%, it was decided that 77 mothers would make up the sample size of this study. 80 mothers volunteered for this research and made up the sample size. SPSS for Windows 15.0 program was used for statistical analysis of the data and frequency tables and descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the results. Results: It was found out that 50 % of the mothers felt insufficient about how to care for their premature baby. It was determined that mothers needed information about general physical care, feeding, health problems of babies, measuring/evaluating body temperature. Mothers also stated that they needed information on optimum room temperature, clothing, sleep schedule, accepting visitors, safe handling and proper sleep positions for the baby. Conclusion: It was determined that significant number of mothers with premature babies needed information about baby care prior to discharge from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Therefore, it is recommended to assess their information needs and provide education before discharge from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.