ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To analyze the short-term survival of the nursing diagnosis of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in hospitalized neonates within the first 24 h of life and over a maximum of 7 days. METHODS: A prospective open cohort study with a longitudinal design was developed with 120 newborns during the first 24 h of life. The survival rate after a nursing diagnosis of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia was analyzed for 7 days. FINDINGS: The number of new cases of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia during the follow-up was 82 (RR: 90.1%, daily incidence rate: 34.17%). The greatest manifestation of the diagnosis occurred in the first three days (n = 97). The median diagnostic survival time was 2 days (95% CI: 2-2). Yellow-orange skin color (RR = 8.08), yellow mucous membranes (RR = 2.05), yellow sclera (RR = 1.99), and female gender (RR = 1.36) had the highest risk ratios. CONCLUSIONS: A rapid impairment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in hospitalized neonates was observed. Some clinical indicators were associated with an increased risk for this diagnosis. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Studies on the prognostic capacity of the clinical indicators of nursing diagnoses like neonatal hyperbilirubinemia strengthen the clinical reasoning of nurses and subsidize diagnostic inferences and accurate clinical decisions.