Effect of Designed Nutritional Guidelines on Nurses’ Performance regarding Feeding of LowBirth-Weight Infants

Background: Low birth weight is one of the most serious challenges in maternal and child health in both developed and developing countries. Aim of the study: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of designed nutritional guidelines on nurses’ performance regarding feeding of low birth weight infants. Design : A quasi-experimental design was used in the current study. Settings: This study was conducted at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Benha University Hospital and Benha Specialized Pediatric Hospital at Benha city. Sample : A convenient sample of nurses included (80) nurses working in the previous mentioned settings and a purposive sample(80) of low birth weight infants. Tools of data collection: Three main tools were used, tool I: A structured interviewing questionnaire. tool II: Observational check lists. tool III: Neonatal medical assessment sheet. Results: More than half of nurses had unsatisfactory level of knowledge and more than one third of them had incompetent level of practices before designed guidelines intervention, while the majority of nurses had satisfactory knowledge and of them had competent level of practice after designed guidelines intervention. Conclusion: The designed nutritional guidelines was effective in improving nurses’ knowledge and their practices level regarding feeding low birth weight infants and improving physiological status of low birth weight infants. Recommendations: Provision of continuous designed guidelines in order to update nurses' knowledge and enhance their practices related to feeding of low birth weight infants.