Association between Knowledge, Practice and Attitude towards Nursing Care in the Neural Development of Premature Newborns

The knowledge, practice and attitude of nursing personnel in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) are critical in the effort to reduce sequelae in the neural development of premature newborns. This investigation aims to determine the relationship between level of knowledge, practice and attitude of nursing personnel working in NICU and the care and neural development of premature newborns. The specific objectives are the following: to obtain a profile on nursing personnel working in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs); to determine the level of knowledge of nursing personnel regarding the neural development of premature newborns; to determine the practical application of this knowledge by nursing personnel in the care of premature newborns as regards their neural development; to describe the attitude of nursing personnel when caring for premature newborns as regards their neural development; and to establish the existing relationship between the sociodemographic categories of gender and years working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of the participants of this study. A questionnaire was administered to nurses working in four hospitals of the Metropolitan area of Puerto Rico. The study was descriptive and correlational with a transversal design; the Pearson Coefficient and Spearman’s Rank Correlation were used for analysis. A correlation was found between level of knowledge, practice and attitude of nurses in NICUs and care and neural development of newborns (r=.254, p < .05), revealing that updating knowledge enables personnel to maintain positive attitudes and apply appropriate nursing care. a Universidad Metropolitana (SUAGM, Puerto Rico-United States); b University of Malaga (Spain). Correspondence: Madeline Fonseca Fonseca, Universidad Metropolitana, PO Box 21150, San Juan, PR 00928 (Puerto Rico, United States) mfonseca8@suagm.edu