Effect of Training Nurses in the Process of Weaning Premature Infants from Mechanical Ventilation on Infection Incidence in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Respiratory distress syndrome and lung infection are the most common lung problems and the leading cause of mortality in preterm neonates. The prolonged use of endotracheal tubes and mechanical ventilation increases the risk of airway injury, pneumonia, and chronic lung disease. Nursing interventions can be considered a vitally important factor in the success of endotracheal intubation in premature infants. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of training nurses in the process of weaning premature infants from mechanical ventilation on neonatal outcomes in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
The present quasi-experimental study was performed on 46 nurses and 312 premature neonates admitted to the NICU of Akbarabadi Hospital in Tehran in 2020. The subjects were entered into the study using the census method; subsequently, they were examined three months before and three months after the intervention. The data collection instrument was a two-part researcher-made questionnaire encompassing demographic characteristics of nurses and preterm infants, the length of hospital stay, length of mechanical ventilation, and incidence of infection. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) using an independent t-test and chi-square test. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
The results demonstrated that despite a significant reduction in the number of infections after the intervention compared to before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference between the two time periods in terms of neonatal outcomes (p=0.194). The results also indicated that nurses' training reduced the chances of neonatal infection by about 1.5 times (OR=1.498).
As evidenced by the results of the present study, although a reduction was observed in neonatal outcomes after nursing education, it was not statistically significant, indicating that other factors, such as nurses' adherence to hand hygiene protocols, duration of intervention, sample size, and educational content, were also involved in this regard and affected the results of this study.