The nurse's role in providing care to families of newborns has typically been to offer comprehensive support. No empirical evidence exists to indicate that this approach is effective in promoting child health and development. At the same time, a large body of research has demonstrated the importance of infant and parent adaptation in facilitating healthy development of the infant. The objective of the proposed study is to investigate the most effective ways in which nursing care can be provided to families of high-risk newborns to promote mutual adapatation (synchrony). In this investigation, two model nursing programs will be compared with the traditional approach to care during the first three months of the infant's life. One model program focuses upon the family's individual needs as determined by extensive assessment of family strengths and problems by the nurse. The other model program focuses upon universal needs as determined by the known course of bio-behavioral development during the first twelve weeks of life. Both programs will be compared to a standard (general support) approach to care, with respect to nursing process, infant and parent adaptive behavior and synchrony, and child health and development. As an important final stage in the project, the results of the program evaluations will be immediately translated into teaching units which can be quickly disseminated to practicing nurses who provide care to the families of newborns.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter