Nurse Attitudes in Croatia Towards Primary Resuscitation of Prematurely Born Infants

Aim: The aim was to determine the attitudes of nurses in Croatia toward primary resuscitation of prematurely born infants. Methods: A written questionnaire was distributed to the nursing staff wiith questions regarding their age, parity, work experience, work place and attitudes toward primary resuscitation of prematurely born infants. A total of 174 nurses completed the questionnaire; 49 of them working at the delivery room or in contact with pregnant women (DR/PW), 79 working at the pediatric/neonatal intensive care units (PICU/NICU), 46 working with the general population (GP). Results: There were no statistically significant differences regarding age, parity and work experience among groups, nor in attitudes among DR/PW and PICU/NICU nurses. There was a statistically significant difference in attitudes toward primary resuscitation of infants born at 22nd and 23rd gestational week among DR/PW - PICU /NICU and GP nurses, as well as in attitudes toward primary resuscitation of infants born at 24th to 26th gestational week among PICU /NICU and GP nurses. Discussion: GP nursing staff has attitude to initiate more likely primary resuscitation of premature born infants than their colleagues in the comparative groups. Such results are consequences of the fact that PICU/NICU-DR/PW nurses have different experience towards the complexity of procedures applied in primary resuscitation of infants who are born at the margins of viability. Conclusions: Working place i.e. experience at the particular working place, but not modern guidance in clinical bioethics, play major role in creation of attitude towards the primary resuscitation of prematurely born infants among nurses. Education in clinical bioethics should be continuous, in accordance with medical advances in neonatal intensive care and long term outcome of prematurely born infants. Cilj: Cilj istraživanja bio je ispitati stavove medicinskih sestara u Hrvatskoj o primarnom oživljavanju prijevremeno rođene djece. Metode: Pisanom anketom ispitivana je dob, roditeljstvo, radno iskustvo i mjesto rada te stavovi medicinskih sestara iz Hrvatske o primarnom oživljavanju prijevremeno rođene djece. Anketa je obuhvatila 174 medicinske sestre: 49 zaposlenih u rađaonici ili na mjestima rada koja uključuju rad s trudnicama (Rađ/Tr), 79 u pedijatrijskim/neonatološkim jedinicama intenzivnog liječenja (JIL/NICU), dok 46 radi s općom populacijom (OP). Rezultati: Nije bilo statistički značajne razlike među skupinama u odnosu na