Poster Presentation
Thursday, July 12, 2007
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM
Thursday, July 12, 2007
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM
The effectiveness of prone position on physiological parameters in preterm infants
Yong-Chuan Chen, RN, MS, Hui-Ming Hou, RN, MS, and Ho-Mei Chang, RN, MSN. Department of nursing, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
| Learning Objective #1: To test the effectiveness of prone position on physiological parameters of preterm infants. |
| Learning Objective #2: To compare the physiological parameters in prone and supine position |
Background: In the last few years, prone position has been used increasing in mechanically ventilated preterm infants, and it may improve oxygenation. Objective: To test the effectiveness of prone position on physiological parameters (including heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation) of preterm infants. Method: This was an experimental, crossover and repeat measurement design. The preterm infants were gestation age of 26 to 36 weeks, postnatal age of 7 days, and without congenital abnormalities or sedation. Thirty infants eligible the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to a prone-then-supine or supine-then-prone position sequence. They were placed prone or supine for 2 hours. During this protocol, ventilator and incubator settings remained unchanged. Infants were placed prone or supine position after nursing care activities. We measured physiological parameters about 1 hour after prone or supine. Heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation were recorded every 1 minute by Draeger monitor. The data were statistically analyzed with repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: Infants in prone compared with supine position had higher oxygen saturation (F=12.135, p< .01), stabilized heart rate (F=5.82, p< .01) and respiratory rate (F=3.68, p< .01). Conclusion: We expect to provide the evidence for nurses to practice prone position for preterm infants to stabilized the vital signs and minimize the complications of hypoxia.