Health-care professionals' attitudes toward the current level and need for developmental services in neonatal...

For this descriptive study a survey was constructed to determine neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) health-care staff's perceptions of the present level of and need for developmental services in NICUs. In 14 level III NICUs throughout the state of Illinois, 530 multidisciplinary team members responded. NICU staff described the current and ideal roles of the developmental specialist (DS) in their NICU. In addition, using a 5-point scale, the staff rated six categories of 46 specific developmental protocols that might be incorporated into their current daily care routine. These categories included individualized supportive care, direct caregiving procedures, parent participation, environmental modification, stimulation, and positioning. Then the value of these same protocols in an ideal NICU program were rated. The results indicate that 86% of the staff perceive a need for a DS. Within each of the six categories significantly more developmental interventions were rated ideal, compared with the number of such interventions currently practiced. Individualized supportive care was rated as the most important category, and stimulation was rated as the least useful. Overall, neonatal health care professionals support the implementation of developmental services in the NICU.