BEST PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS TO SUPPORT KANGAROO CARE IN PRETERM INFANTS IN THE NICU

Abstract

This thesis investigates credible medical and nursing journals on the topics of kangaroo care in preterm infants in a neonatal intensive care unit setting. These research articles focused on interventions and recommendations that maximize the benefits of kangaroo care in this targeted population. Research and education on this topic is much less utilized compared to kangaroo care in full-term infants. Implementation of kangaroo care in the clinical setting is slow-moving, during its transition state from the literature to execution (Ludington-Hoe, 2011). Many variations of kangaroo care are explored in these research articles, thus there is great room for interpretation into best practice recommendations. The purpose of this thesis is to create best practice recommendation to support kangaroo care in the NICU, and promote utilization of such recommendations. Along with various interventions, many outcomes and benefits were analyzed in these articles as well. The proven benefits and positive outcomes for the use of kangaroo care have been momentous and have a potential to play a crucial role in the clinical setting. The culmination of this paper will establish best practice recommendations, an implementation plan for an educational bulletin board in a kangaroo-a-thon, and an evaluation of the participation in the kangaroo-a-thon.