Evidence-Based Intervention Program for Nurses Caring of High- Risk Neonates at Governmental Hospitals of West Bank-Palestine

Abstract

Care of high-risk neonates needs experienced and specialized neonatal nurses. Nurses should update themselves with the current research evidence regarding their clinical performance.Aims: to assess nurses' knowledge and performance regarding to evidence-based nursing care for high- risk neonates; & design, implement and evaluate the intervention program for caring of high- risk neonates based on evidence-based practice. Design: A quazi- experimental design was utilized. Settings: The study was conducted at the Neonatal Intensive Care Units in five governmental hospitals in north and middle of West Bank in Palestine. They are Rafidea, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqelia, and Ramallah Hospitals. Subjects: subjects were composed of a purposive sample of 70 nurses and 70 high-risk neonates. Tools of data collection: the tools of the study were a pre-designated questionnaire format (pre/ post) and observational checklists (pre/post). Results: is revealed that, there was a marked improvement in studied nurses' knowledge and performance post implementation of evidence-based program with highly statistical significant differences and positive correlation between the studied nurses total knowledge and performance regarding care of high- risk neonate pre & post implementation of the evidence-based program. Conclusion: the study concluded that the evidence-based program for care of high-risk neonates had a positive effect on the improvement of nurses’ knowledge and their performance. Recommendations: the study recommended that, nurses in NICU must have regular teaching sessions within the clinical settings to monitor the nursing performance at the NICU to reinforce and update evidence based nurses’ knowledge and perfromance regarding caring high-risk neonates