Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena

Abstract

The World Health Organization defines preterm baby the children born before the 37th week of gestation. Each year, about 13 million children born prematurely in the world and in the last years preterm births are on the rise. The prematurity is a very traumatic event and, in the early days and/or weeks of life, preterm presents greatest difficulties of adaptation to the post-natal life. However, thanks to the development of techniques of Intensive Care, in the last years, there was an improvement in the survival of these young patients. From the birth, the preterm baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care receives highly specialized care, coordinated by a multidisciplinary team; daily the newborn is subjected to countless stress, because of this are implemented a series of measures to reduce the stress of the newborn, including the integration of parents in the care, the postural care, handling, containment and kangaroo mother care. 
Premature birth carries a vastness of problems and complications; one of the organs that most affected is the respiratory system. The Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, also known as chronic lung disease of prematurity, is a major cause of respiratory morbidity in preterm infants and is characterized by the interruption of the development of the lung, and ventilatory support is essential to provide more oxygen to the little patient. The daily care is to improve symptoms and to minimize further lung damage. The role of the nurse in caring for a child with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia requires the compliance of his parents, and from there start the educational continuity in parental support at home. For this reason, I thought to provide a tool of support to parents of children with this disease once discharged from the ward.