Mahboobeh Namnabati
Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Title: Put the education into practice: Peer education for management of noise in neonatal intensive care units
Biography
Biography: Mahboobeh Namnabati
Abstract
Introduction & Aim: Peer education is an effective innovation in medical science especially in nursing, due to nurses’ daily professional roles. The learners play the role of teachers or teacher assistants in this training and accelerate the learning of other colleagues. The infants are exposed to too high noise level in NICUs that adversely affect their growth and development. Therefore, peer education was conducted in this study aiming to reduce noise levels in neonatal intensive care unit and improve the performance of the staff.
Materials & Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used for this study. All participants are NICU nurses in an educational hospital of Isfahan University. Sound pressure levels were measured before and after the intervention (Peer Education Program). The staff performance on noise management was evaluated by the questionnaire before and after the intervention.
Results: The results of the study showed that the mean noise level decreased significantly from 68.2-48.50 dB in NICU after the intervention. The mean score of the staff performance was 74.6 before the intervention and reached to 83 aftermath (P<0.001).
Conclusions: The results of this study showed that peer-education is a useful way of making changes in nursing. However, the noise in the unit was still higher than the standard level. Therefore, these trainings should be continued in order to create a suitable environment for the growth and development of premature infants or the fetus outside the uterus.