Neonatal Nursing

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Neonatal nurses spend their career working with babies, those that are healthy and those that are not. Working with newborns is guaranteed to have its challenges, especially for those particular nurses who choose to work in the neonatal intensive care unit. The neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, is where the infants suffering from potentially fatal diseases/disorders are held. NICU nurses struggle with life and death situations each and everyday, which is sure to be accompanied by specific emotions such as moral distress. In the words of researcher Kain (2006), “moral distress is defined as uncomfortable, painful emotions that arise when institutional constraints prevent the nurse from performing nursing tasks that are deemed necessary and appropriate” (p. 388). In simpler words, Kain (2006) is saying that a nurse experiencing moral distress is undergoing painful emotions that are getting in the way of the nurse’s ability to perform essential tasks (p. 388). Heuer, L., Bengiamin, M., Downey, V., and Imler, N. (1996) pointed out that nurses caring for critically ill and dying infants often feel hopeless, incompetent, and disappointed, especially if the overall outcome for the infant is death (p. 1126). These negative feelings that NICU nurses often have are those that are associated with moral distress and can often lead to prevention of proper performance in necessary nursing duties. Review of the Research In the past there has not been an incredible amount of research done on the moral distress of neonatal nurses, but as Kain (2006) pointed out, the research that has been done has been conducted in the form of qualitative studies including surveys and interviews (p. 247). It could be assumed that the everyday obligations a N... ... middle of paper ... .../0969733010373009 Gallagher, K., Marlow, N., Edgley, A., & Porock, D. (2012). The attitudes of neonatal nurses towards extremely preterm infants. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 68(8), 1768-1779. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05865.x Hall, E., Brinchmann, B., & Aagaard, H. (2012). The challenge of integrating justice and care in neonatal nursing. Nursing Ethics, 19(1), 80-90. doi:10.1177/0969733011412101 Heuer, L., Bengiamin, M., Downey, V., & Imler, N. (1996). Focus on children's nursing. Neonatal intensive care nurse stressors: an American study. British Journal Of Nursing, 5(18), 1126-1130. Kain, V. (2007). Moral distress and providing care to dying babies in neonatal nursing. International Journal Of Palliative Nursing, 13(5), 243-248. Kain, V. (2006). Palliative care delivery in the NICU: what barriers do neonatal nurses face?. Neonatal Network: NN, 25(6), 387-392.

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