Biomedical subjects

Gretchen Lawhon

Publications and source records attributed to Gretchen Lawhon.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Integrated Nursing Care: vital issues important in the humane care of the newborn.

Neonatal nurses are in a unique and powerful position to influence the lives of infants and families. The essence of the profession of nursing is an obligation to care. The art and science of caring demands individualization and flexibility in judgment and decision-making. Nursing is a process of facilitation that involves mutual interactive communication toward an individual, family, community, or system and is directed toward further development. When the nurse's relationship is one of mutuality with the family there is a synchronous process of the nurse supporting the family in supporting the infant's emerging development. The neurobehaviourally supportive approach is one that is individualized and therefore the plan of care for each infant must be thoroughly designed. This humane and integrated approach to care ensures families' competence and confidence in their readiness for the infant's discharge from the intensive care nursery.

Child Development↗

PubMed2002

Facilitation of parenting the premature infant within the newborn intensive care unit.

A challenge facing neonatal health care providers is to combine technological intensive care for preterm infants with a sensitive and individualized approach facilitating neurobehavioral development while supporting parents in their roles as primary advocates and long-term caregivers. This exploratory study evaluated an individualized nursing intervention based on underlying assumptions of both infant and parent competence. The intervention enhanced parents' ability to appraise their infant's behavior critically and respond in a supportive manner. Study findings provide valuable information on the implications of an individualized nursing intervention both for further research and clinical practice.

Child Development↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Challenges in providing developmentally supportive care: a case presentation.

A developmentally supportive family-centered approach to care is extremely valuable for even the most critically ill infant. This case presentation of Martha, a severely small for gestational age twin born at 30 weeks gestation, highlights three major areas in which clinical care is enhanced through the integration of neurobehavioral observation: self-regulation, comfort, and family advocacy. The ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and integrity were relied upon to ensure her humane care.

Ethics, Clinical↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Longitudinal comparison of preterm pain responses to repeated heelsticks.

BACKGROUND: Preterm infants receive repeated heelsticks over their hospitalization, yet contradictions exist regarding the influence of prior heelsticks, prior painful procedures, and severity of illness on assessment of the pain responses. PURPOSES: Compare pain responses to repeated heelsticks in infants of varying gestational age groups, and determine the influence of number of prior heelsticks, total number of prior painful procedures, and severity of illness on pain responses over time. DESIGN AND METHODS: The descriptive longitudinal design utilized a convenience sample of 81 preterm infants from a Midwestern Level III newborn intensive care unit (NICU). RESULTS: Significant differences in Preterm Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) scores were found between age groups. Both the severity of illness and the total number of prior painful procedures had a significant influence on pain scores. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses' use of developmental care and the QuickHeel device may result in lower pain scores. Higher severity of illness and number of prior heelsticks may lower pain scores.

Age Factors↗