The Heurisitcs of Nurses Responsiveness to Critical Patient Monitor and Ventilator Alarms in a Private Room Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Background : Diagnostic radiology is essential in the care of neonates. Survival of extremely preterm neonates and neonates with multiple birth defects inevitably results in a number of diagnostic radiological procedures being performed in modern Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Aim :To assess, radiographic investigations done on Neonates admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Methods: Retrospective study was collected. Data was collected from the hospital records. It included neonates admitted to the NICU during the period of January -October 2016. The neonates included in the study were those who underwent a radiographic investigation. ASSESSMENT OF RADIOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATIONS DONE ON NEONATES ADMITTED TOTHE NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (NICU) Results: Out of 410 neonates admitted during January -October, 2016, 190(46.3%) underwent radiographic investigations. Most of the neonates were male {120(63.1%)}, admitted on the first day of life{136(71.6%)} and born preterm {108(56.8%)}. The Mean (SD) weight on admission was 2.15(0.68) kg. Low Birth Weight{85(44.7%)}, Respiratory Distress {58(30.5%)} and Birth Asphyxia {50(26.3%)} were found be the most common indication for admission in the NICU, which resulted in an X-ray investigation. 106 (58.3%)underwent only one Chest X-ray while 12 (6.3%) underwent one Abdominal X-ray .The maximum number of radiographs that a neonate underwent were found to be 16. Conclusion: Based on the above results, one can conclude that preterm neonates with a diagnosis of Low Birth Weight, Respiratory Distress and Birth Asphyxia have a high probability of undergoing radiological investigation.Therefore, preterm neonates will be at a higher risk of being exposed to more radiation dose than other neonates in the NICU.