Construção de roteiro para avaliação de enfermagem em unidade de cuidados intermediários e unidade de terapia intensiva neonatal

Abstract

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Neonatal Intermediate Care Unit (NICU) play a crucial role in providing care to newborns in critical conditions who require intensive and specialized care. In this context, the application of the Nursing Process (NP) is essential in supporting the life of the newborn and their family. Nursing Assessment is the first step of the NP, involving the collection of subjective and objective data from patients, aiming to obtain comprehensive information about the individual, which serves as a foundation for subsequent interventions and guidance in personalized care. This study aimed to build the content of a Nursing Assessment protocol for a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Neonatal Intermediate Care Unit, based on the Basic Human Needs Theory of Wanda de Aguiar Horta. This is a methodological development research focused on building instruments, guided by Pasquali’s (1988) assumptions. The first step involved analyzing an existing Nursing Assessment protocol used in the units, adjusting it to meet the needs of newborns in the NICU and NICU. The second step consisted of a literature review to support the adaptation of the protocol, considering identified factors and the structure of neonatal care. The third step involved the construction of the instrument. Once the topics and items of the Nursing Assessment protocol were defined, the fourth step involved refining the information in the protocol with the participation of the nurses from the respective units. It is concluded that the constructed Nursing Assessment protocol provides guidance for nurses in collecting subjective and objective data according to the specific needs of the patients and the service, contributing to the improvement of neonatal care.