Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze nurses' perceptions about the feeding of preterm newborns and their motivations in using feeding methods during hospitalization in the neonatology unit. Method: descriptive study with a qualitative approach. Data collection was carried out between July 2019 and January 2020, using semi-structured interviews with 30 nurses from a neonatology unit. The analysis of interview data was carried out using lexicographical textual analysis, the descending hierarchical classification, and similarity analysis through IRaMuTeQ - R Interface software. Results: 876 text segments were analyzed in the descending hierarchical classification, retaining 86.3% of the total for the creation of five classes that resulted from content participation. The similarity analysis of the words representing the nurses' perception about oral feeding and the choice of feeding method led to three central cores, represented by the words: think, give, bottle. Conclusion: Nurses recognize the importance of continuing education and training in the assessment of oral skills. The reason for choosing the feeding method is often based on criteria such as preference, speed, and ease.
Highlights
Oral feeding is one of the most important activities for preterm newborns (NB) during hospitalization in the Neonatology Unit (NU), and to be successful, the preterm NB must reach the appropriate maturational development to initiate it[1]
There has been a decrease in the importance of feeding for some professionals in recent years[3], because oral feeding is often delegated to nurses with less experience and competence, who may be unable to identify more subtle signs of neurobehavioral disorders in preterm NB4
This study aims to analyze nurses’ perceptions about the feeding of preterm newborns and their motivations to use oral feeding methods during hospitalization in the NU
Summary
Oral feeding is one of the most important activities for preterm newborns (NB) during hospitalization in the Neonatology Unit (NU), and to be successful, the preterm NB must reach the appropriate maturational development to initiate it[1]. There has been a decrease in the importance of feeding for some professionals in recent years[3], because oral feeding is often delegated to nurses with less experience and competence, who may be unable to identify more subtle signs of neurobehavioral disorders in preterm NB4. Some authors[5] mention the lack of scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of nursing interventions in oral feeding This may be the reason why there is no planning of interventions for the development of oral-motor skills, and the reason why the choice of the oral feeding method is based, above all, on the nurses’ opinions and convictions[6], rather than scientific evidence[7]. Continuous training on feeding is important for well-based decision-making in the NU
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