Abstract:
Mothers of infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) often find it difficult to breastfeed infants and may stop breastfeeding prior to discharge from the NICU (Hong, Callister, & Schwartz, 2003). Nurses that care for hospitalized infants may influence the duration and satisfaction of breastfeeding based on nurses' knowledge and attitudes towards breastfeeding. The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive relationships among nurses' knowledge and attitudes towards breastfeeding and the duration and satisfaction of mothers of hospitalized infants with breastfeeding in the NICU. The theoretical framework is Mercer's Theory of Maternal Role Attainment. The sample will be 60 mother and infant couplets that are long-term NICU patients at a hospital with a Level III nursery. Nurses (n=60) working in the same NICU during the same time frame will be asked to participate. The Nurses' Support for Breastfeeding Questionnaire and the Lewinsky Breastfeeding Survey Tool will evaluate nurses' knowledge and attitudes towards breastfeeding (Bernaix, 2000). The Maternal Perceptions of Support Questionnaire will evaluate mothers for duration and satisfaction with breastfeeding (Bernaix, 2000). Findings will provide information about mothers that breastfeed hospitalized infants in the NICU.