Mothers' Decision Making Concerning Safe Sleep for Preterm Infants: What Are the Influencing Factors?

BACKGROUND: Parental decisions regarding infant sleep practices vary widely, resulting in a lack of adherence to the American Academy of Pediatrics safe sleep recommendations (SSR) and consequently an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Preterm infants are among those at a highest risk for SIDS, yet few studies focus on parental decision-making surrounding sleep practices for preterm infants. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing decisions concerning infant sleep practices of mothers of preterm infants. METHODS: This study used a mixed-methods design. Recruitment was through social media messaging by 2 parent support organizations. An online survey was used to assess factors influencing mothers' decisions regarding sleep practices for preterm infants. FINDINGS/RESULTS: Survey participants (n = 98) were from across the United States. Mothers of preterm infants (mean gestational age at birth = 29.42 weeks) most often reported positioning infants on their back to sleep (92.3%) and a low (15.4%) use of a pacifier at sleep time. Three themes emerged for the decisions made: adherence to SSR; nonadherence to SSR; and infant-guided decisions. Regardless of the decision, mothers indicated that anxiety over the infant's well-being resulted in a need for sleep practices that facilitated close monitoring of the infant. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND RESEARCH: The findings of this study indicate the need for understanding the underlying anxiety preventing mothers from adhering to SSR despite knowing them, along with tailoring infant sleep messaging and education to improve safety of sleep practices for preterm infants. Research is needed to examine decision making in more diverse populations.

COVID 19-transformed nursing education and communication competency: Testing COMFORT educational resources.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic brought a disruption to nurse education for both nursing faculty and students as all non-clinical nurse education courses worldwide moved to distance or online learning. The sudden shift to online education meant the loss of traditional activities for students to learn communication skills creating a critical demand for open educational resources for students and nursing faculty. Tools to support nursing faculty development for teaching communication are nearly non-existent and pedagogical content knowledge is needed. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to test two COMFORT COVID-19 Communication Modules (PPE and Video/Phone) for undergraduate nursing students and evaluate student communication competency post-intervention. DESIGN: This pre-post study includes qualitative and quantitative data collected to evaluate student communication competency post-intervention. SETTINGS: Undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students at four university campuses in the Pacific and MidSouth regions of the United States. PARTICIPANTS: BSN nursing students (n = 197) predominantly in the third year of study (n = 138, 70%). METHODS: Students completed online modules as part of a nursing course. Faculty provided information and a link to access online learning modules. A pre-post assessment was completed for each module. RESULTS: Significant statistical differences were found across variables of communication attitude, knowledge, and skill across both modules. CONCLUSIONS: As nursing education in the United States shifts to competency-based education which emphasizes skill development across the BSN program, it is imperative to establish communication learning objectives that are measurable and ensure communication theory and evidence-based practice is part of curriculum content.