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Skin Care Management Practices for Premature Infants

Journal of Perinatology volume 19, pages 426–431 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To describe current skin care practices for preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units in the United States. We hypothesized that there would be little consensus among facilities.

STUDY DESIGN:

Neonatal intensive care units (n = 823) listed in the 1996 United States Neonatologists Directory (American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Perinatal Pediatrics) were sent a 28-question survey dealing with many aspects of neonatal skin care along with descriptive data about their neonatal intensive care unit. Descriptive data analysis was performed.

RESULTS:

A total of 305 surveys were returned (37% return rate); of these, 241 of the respondents reported admitting infants weighing ≤1000 gm. Some neonatal skin care practices showed wide consensus (>70%) (e.g., scrub procedure for staff; use of a skin barrier under tapes/adhesives), whereas other practices showed little consensus (<30%) (e.g., routine surveillance cultures; use of Aquaphor).

CONCLUSION: Consensus on skin care practices was not found among neonatal intensive care units. Data from this survey can be used to develop studies to examine whether certain skin care management practices can improve neonatal outcomes.

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Author notes

  1. Christine A Gleason MD

    Present address: Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

    Sarah F Baker MHS, Pamela K Donohue MS PA-C & Christine A Gleason MD

  2. Department of Pediatric Nursing (B. J. S.), The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD

    Bonnie Jane Smith BSN RN

Authors
  1. Sarah F Baker MHS
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  2. Bonnie Jane Smith BSN RN
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  3. Pamela K Donohue MS PA-C
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  4. Christine A Gleason MD
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Additional information

This work was supported in part by Eudowood, formerly the Hospital forConsumptives of Maryland.

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Baker, S., Smith, B., Donohue, P. et al. Skin Care Management Practices for Premature Infants. J Perinatol 19, 426–431 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7200246

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