Nurses Knowledge and Performance Regarding Care Giving for Neonates with Hyperbilirubinemia and Different Modalities of Phototherapy

Abstract

Almost 70% of neonates develop jaundice during the first week of their lives. Jaundice is among the main causes of neonates’ hospitalization. About 75% of all neonates referring to hospital during the first postnatal week suffer from jaundice. Although jaundice is usually benign in both full-term and preterm babies, severe hyperbilirubinemia is a medical emergency. Untreated severe jaundice is highly neurotoxic and can cause kernicterus, mental retardation, and death. Consequently, treating neonatal jaundice is of grave importance. Phototherapy significantly reduces the need for exchange transfusion which causes different complications such as thrombocytopenia, hypoglycemia, hypocalcaemia, hypernatremia, and blood-borne infections. Although phototherapy seems to be a safe and effective treatment for jaundice, recent studies have shown that phototherapy can cause short-term complications such as mother-baby separation, loose stool, skin rash, imbalanced body temperature, fluid and electrolyte loss, shivering, bronze baby syndrome, as well as eye injury and nasal obstruction due to covering the eyes. Moreover, the long-term complications of phototherapy may include skin cancer, asthma, allergy, patent ductus arteriosus, and retinal damage.