A Theory of Health Promotion for Preterm Infants Based on Levine’s Conservation Model of Nursing

Abstract

The infant born prior to the completion of term gestation faces many challenges in order to merely survive in the extrauterine environment. A preterm birth is also a time of extreme crisis for the family. There is a great need for the refinement of nursing practice models for neonatal intensive care nursing, to assure that the holistic nursing care needs of the infant and family are met. This article describes a new middle range theory of health promotion for preterm infants based on Levine's conservation model of nursing that can be used to guide neonatal nursing practice.

Evaluating nurse staffing patterns and neonatal intensive care unit outcomes using Levine’s conservation model of nursing

“…Consistency of nursing caregivers reflects consistency of the actual caregivers rather than simply continuity of nursing care procedures. Consistency of nursing caregivers was intentionally selected for exploration in this study because of (1) the non‐verbal nature of this patient population and the importance of nursing caregivers knowing how to read the unique messages embedded within the non‐verbal communication signals of individual preterm infants (Mefford 2004); and (2) the emotional support needs of the parents of preterm infants (Aagarde & Hall 2008, Obeidat et al. 2009).…”

“…Levine’s model considers the need for nursing care in four dimensions: conservation of energy, structural integrity, personal integrity and social integrity. A middle‐range theory of Health Promotion for Preterm Infants based on Levine’s model has been described in the literature (Mefford 2004) and is used as the middle‐range theoretical structure to guide this study. According to this theory, the disruption of the normal path of intrauterine development by a preterm birth creates an environmental challenge for the infant and family.…”

“…The role of NICU nurses is to support the adaptation of the infant and family through the provision of therapeutic and supportive nursing interventions focused on the conservation of energy, structural integrity, personal integrity and social integrity. If the adaptive efforts and nursing care are successful, then the goal of conservation of wholeness, or health, is achieved with the infant discharged from the NICU to the care of the family (Mefford 2004).…”

Diagnósticos de enfermagem de prematuros sob cuidados intermediários

“…As intervenções devem ser realizadas para que os seguintes resultados sejam alcançados: estabilidade fisiológica e crescimento, injúria estrutural mínima, competência neurocomportamental estabilidade e integração familiar (23) .…”

Before the cradle and beyond the grave: a lifespan/settings‐based framework for health promotion

“…That limitation is perhaps just being realised in the nursing‐based age‐specific health promotion literature. Particularly, authors are starting to recognise the importance of aligning health promotion issues across the early lifespan to settings‐based contexts – such as, from maternal, to child, to youth and to family (Hartrick 2000, Mefford 2004, Roden 2004, Vonderheid et al. 2007, Barnes & Rowe 2008).…”