nurses’ opinions on the barriers to effective implementation of developmental care in neonatal intensive care units

Background: the implementation of developmental care in neonatal intensive care unit (nicu) saves neonates’ energy and stabi- lizes their physiology, reduces stress in them and their family, and decreases hospitalization time and healthcare costs. the role of a neonatal nurse is crucial for an appropriate and successful execution of developmental care in nicu. this study was conducted to evaluate nurses’ opinions on barriers to effective implementation of developmental care in nicus of tehran university of medical sciences. methods: this was a cross-sectional study carried out on a total of 138 nurses who had a minimum work experience of six months in nicus. data collecting tool was a 12-point questionnaire including questions related to 5 core measures of developmental care according to coughlin’s framework as well as questions associated with barriers based on a study by wu. descriptive and analytical statistics were used for data analysis. results: the mean age for 138 nurses was 31.76 ± 5.41 years (23 - 49 years). the mean work history in the nicu was 4.36 ± 3.58 years. of all nurses, 79.7% were found to be familiar with developmental care practice. among participants, 56.4% mentioned most part of their familiarity with developmental care; nurses mostly gained familiarity with developmental care via information exchange with nurse colleagues. the majority of participants described that inadequate time, inappropriate work environment in terms of space and equipment of nicu, and too many requests by parents were major barriers to deliver 5 core measures of developmental care in nicus. conclusions: the implementation of developmental care was hampered by serious barriers.