Abstract
M.Cur.
The neonate has the right to quality nursing care and the Neonatal Intensive nursing care
practitioner is personally and professionally-ethically liable for quality nursing care. The process
of quality improvement is a structured, planned and purposeful action where standards are set
and the nursing care is evaluated after which remedial steps are taken to improve quality nursing
care. In this study the focus is on the first step in the quality improvement cycle; the setting of
standards. The central theoretical statement is as follows: standards for Neonatal Intensive
nursing care facilitate quality nursing care in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit.
The purpose of the study is to describe and formulate standards for Neonatal Intensive nursing
care which can be utilised as an accreditation instrument for institutional self evaluation to
improve quality nursing care. The aim of the study is justified by means of a descriptive,
explorative, contextual research design.
Standards for Neonatal Intensive nursing care were developed and validated by utilising a threephase
research method. In phase one subjects for standards were identified by a panel of six
experts. They were chosen according to their academic qualifications and nursing experience.
The identification was done by means of a critical debate, after which a preliminary conceptual
framework was formulated.
During the second phase a comprehensive literature control was undertaken to refine the
preliminary conceptual framework. The final conceptual framework, that was formulated during
phase two, served as a basis for the description and formulation of standards. The standards were
divided as unit management standards and clinical nursing care standards.
During the third phase a final validation of the standards occured by means of a consencus debate
between the experts that were used in the first phase. An accreditation instrument was developed
to be utilised for institusional self evaluation in order to facilitate quality nursing care.
The standards comply with content validity within the context of a Neonatal Intensive Care unit
in a private hospital in Gauteng. It is recommended that the standards are validated nationally in the Neonatal Intensive Care practice in order to be implemented after inservice training to the
different role players. The following hypotheses is set for testing: standards for Neonatal Intensive
nursing care improve quality nursing care in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit.