Evidence summary on the management of the developmentally supportive environment in the neonatal intensive care unit / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To retrieve, evaluate and integrate relevant evidence on the management of the developmentally supportive environment in the neonatal intensive care unit(NICU), and to provide clinical references.Methods:Evidence on NICU environmental management was retrieved from Guidelines International Network, Joanna Briggs Institute, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Scottish Intercollegiate Guide Network, National Guideline Clearinghouse, Registered Nurses′ Association of Ontario, Yimaitong and other Websites, BMJ Best Practice, UpToDate, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Wanfang Database, CNKI and other database.The evidence included guidelines, evidence summaries, best clinical practice manuals, expert consensus and systematic reviews.The date limit was from the establishment of the databases to March 31, 2021.Results:Totally 16 articles were involved, including 4 guidelines, 9 systematic reviews, and 3 expert consensus.Finally, 20 pieces of best evidence on four aspects were su-mmarized sound, light, touch, and smell.There were 11 A-level recommendations and 9 B-level recommendations.The evidence suggested that health care workers should reduce noise and protect premature infants from being exposed to bright light, noxious gases, and negative touch stimuli.Besides, benign auditory and olfactory stimuli, circadian light, and mother-infant skin-to-skin contact should be used to promote the development of premature infants.Conclusions:This study is a summary of the recommendations on NICU environmental management.It is well-designed and has achieved fruitful results, showing great significance for reducing environmental stress of premature infants in the NICU.However, the current recommended methods for providing benign stimulation require validation of more high-quality, well-designed research.It is recommended that medical staff should selectively apply the evidence to clinical practice according to the actual situation.