Newborn Bathing in Neonatal Intensive Care Units: Recommedations for Newborn Nurses
Sibel Serap Ceylan, Zehra Bahire Bolışık
Abstract
Bathing is a common nursing intervention in neonatal intensive care units. Infant bathing, which is carried out in order to prevent infections by removing dirt and body fluids from the body and to protect the integrity of the skin, causes hypothermia, disturbances in physiological state, stress, and pain in the newborn. Nurses working in the NICU should decide the most appropriate bathing method according to the condition of each baby, follow the baby's reactions and inform the parents about the bathing methods. Issues to be considered about infant bathing; prevention of hypothermia, prevention of infections, stability of vital signs, comfort of the baby, prevention of pain and stress. In the literature, swaddled bathing has been proposed as the safest bathing method.