[Factors Influencing Developmental Care Performance among Neonatal Intensive Care Units Nurses]

This study was conducted to identify factors related to developmental care performance among neonatal intensive care units (NICU) nurses.

The participants were 139 nurses who had provided care to premature infants for more than 6 months and were recruited from the NICU of 8 hospitals. Data were collected from September 1 to December 1, 2017 through questionnaires that encompassed developmental care performance, developmental care perceptions, and the nursing work environment.

More than half (51.8%) of the participants responded that they had never received developmental care education, and for 89.6% of those who had received developmental care education, it was a one-time event. The average developmental care performance of NICU nurses was 0.81, with a range of 0.5~1 point. Multiple regression analysis, demonstrated that the nursing work environment (β=.27, p=.001) and developmental care perceptions (β=.23, p=.004) influenced developmental care performance, with a total explanatory power of 14%.

Based on these results, developmental care education for the NICU nurses must be provided systematically. In addition, strategies to improve nurses' perceptions of developmental care and to provide appropriate support for the nursing work environment can promote developmental care performance.