Quality of life among mothers of preterm newborns in a Malaysian neonatal intensive care unit.

Background: As Quality of Life (QoL) becomes progressively vital in health care services, its importance in mother and child health is of no exception too. Quality of life among mothers with a premature newborn is an issue that has led to growing concerns in the health care system. Yet, despite the knowledge about mother's QoL being essential to family-centered planning on prematurity integrated healthcare, current evidence has been scant. Objective: To examine factors related to the QoL of mothers having preterm newborns hospitalized in the neonatal critical unit. Methods: A non-probability convenience survey was used in a public hospital in Malaysia, covering 180 mothers whose preterm newborns were hospitalized into level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) through the completion of a 26-questions survey of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) and the 26-questions of Parental Stress Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, and Pearson correlation coefficients. Result: The mean scores for mothers' quality of life were (M = 3.67, SD = 0.73) and maternal stress (M = 3.03, SD = 0.90) out of 5. A mother's occupation was found to be the only factor associated with the quality of life among mothers who have preterm newborns admitted to the NICU. Furthermore, maternal role change was found to have a moderate negative relationship with the quality of life (r = 0.310, p = 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that the main factors contributing to the mother's QoL during their preterm newborns' NICU admission were role change-related stress. Thus, to maintain a better QoL among this group of mothers during this traumatic period, a special nursing intervention program must be implemented immediately, right after the preterm newborns' admission, to relieve the mothers' stress which has been proven to have a direct effect on the mothers' QoL. The study results will alert healthcare providers, particularly neonatal nurses, on the need to support mothers psychologically in terms of role change. This is to ensure a better quality of life among mothers whose newborns were admitted to the NICU.

The impact of adult trauma triage training on decision-making skills and accuracy of triage decision at emergency departments in Malaysia: A randomized control trial.

INTRODUCTION: Patients who visit emergency departments need to undergo a precise assessment to determine their priority and accurate triage category to ensure they receive the right treatment. AIM: To identify the effect of triage training on the skills and accuracy of triage decisions for adult trauma patients. METHOD: A randomized controlled trial design was conducted in ten emergency department of public hospitals. A total of 143 registered nurses and medical officer assistants who performed triage roles were recruited for the control group (n = 74) and the intervention group (n = 69). The skill and accuracy of triage decisions were measured two weeks and four weeks after the intervention group were exposed to the intervention. RESULTS: There was a significant effect on the skill of triage decision-making between the control and the intervention group p < 0.001, η2partial = 0.31. Concerning the accuracy of triage decisions, the effect was significantly different between the control group and the intervention group p < 0.001, η2partial = 0.66 across time. CONCLUSION: The triage training improved the skills of the participants and the accuracy of triage decision-making across time.

Depression among older adults in Malaysian daycare centres.

With the older population increasing worldwide, depressive disorder in this cohort is a serious public health problem that contributes to increased healthcare costs and mortality. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression among older adults in Malaysia who attended a daycare centre and to identify the relationship between depression and demographic factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 159 older adults recruited following screening for mental capacity. The Malay Geriatric Depression Scale questionnaire was distributed among the participants to obtain descriptive data on the symptoms of depression. Some 59.1% of the participants experienced depression. The most common factors associated with depression were being divorced, low education levels and low income. The findings indicate the need to revise and re-evaluate the activities and programmes in daycare centres for older adults in order to objectively cater to their physical and emotional needs.

The effectiveness of a structured nursing intervention program on maternal stress and ability among mothers of premature infants in a neonatal intensive care unit.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effectiveness of a structured nursing intervention program on maternal stress and NICU-related maternal ability after the admission of premature infants to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). BACKGROUND: Mothers of premature infants may face stress having premature infants, and their infants may be admitted to the NICU for a few weeks or months. The mothers' experience of stress would be worse if they have low knowledge and poor NICU-related maternal ability. Mothers of infants admitted to the NICU require well-planned interventions to cope with psychological matters arising after an infant hospitalisation. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental design. METHODS: A total of 216 mothers were consecutively assigned to control and intervention groups. Each group consisted of 108 mothers. The mothers in both groups received questionnaire concerning maternal stress and NICU-related ability during their first visit to NICU (within 48 hr of admission). A structured nursing intervention was implemented for 10 days on mothers in the intervention group. The control group continued to receive existing practice nursing care. Mothers of both groups were again given the questionnaire on maternal stress and NICU-related ability after 14 days of admission. RESULTS: In the intervention group, the difference between the mean total score of maternal stress and parental role and relationship subscale decreased significantly, compared to the control group (p = 0.04; p = 0.01) respectively. Maternal ability improved significantly in mothers in the intervention group 2 weeks postintervention, p < 0.001. CONCLUSION: A structured nursing intervention for mothers could significantly reduce maternal stress and promote maternal NICU-related abilities. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results of the study could help neonatal nurses to develop an appropriate nursing intervention for parents with premature infants in the NICU.