Susan Wood

First Advisor

Patricia Cullen

Second Advisor

Cris Finn

College

Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

School

Loretto Heights

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Number of Pages

50 pages

Abstract

For decades, medical providers have recognized the importance of temperature regulation in the delivery room, especially for the preterm infant (Fawcett, 2014). The goal of this quality improvement initiative was to improve neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission temperatures of preterm infants delivered at a hospital in Denver, Colorado, ranging in gestational age of 23-33 6/7 weeks by placing the infants in a polyethylene wrap (NeoWrap) immediately after birth.

A retrospective medical record review was performed to collect data on NICU admission temperatures for the historical control group. During the prospective phase, infants were placed in a NeoWrap from the neck down immediately after birth and their NICU admission temperature was recorded. Premature infants placed in a NeoWrap immediately after birth had increased mean admission temperatures when compared to infants not placed in a NeoWrap.

The outcome of this comparison revealed that polyethylene wraps used for preterm deliveries 23-33 6/7 weeks gestation led to a decrease in admission hypothermia in the NICU, demonstrating that NeoWraps are a non-invasive and effective intervention to assist in preventing hypothermia in infants delivered. The sampled t-test revealed that there was a slight increase in the mean admission temperature with the use of a NeoWrap. This study includes an exhaustive literature review along with retrospective and prospective data to support the continued use of NeoWraps in the delivery room to aid in preventing admission hypothermia in preterm infants.

Date of Award

Spring 2019

Location (Creation)

Colorado (state); Denver (county); Denver (inhabited place)

Rights Statement

All content in this Collection is owned by and subject to the exclusive control of Regis University and the authors of the materials. It is available only for research purposes and may not be used in violation of copyright laws or for unlawful purposes. The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations.

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