title: Neonatal nurses' attitudes, beliefs, and feelings toward the care and management of fetal-infants.
abstract: Neonatal intensive care nurses must handle on a regular basis the complex dilemmas that accompany the rapid advances in knowledge and technology that have enabled the survival of fetal-infants. Little literature addresses the attitudes and feelings of neonatal nurses regarding the moral, ethical, legal, economic, and social issues surrounding fetal-infants. The purpose of this investigation, therefore, was to examine the attitudes, beliefs, and feelings held by neonatal nurses towards these issues as they relate to the care and management of fetal-infants. The research design of this study was a nonexperimental approach. The sample was drawn from a roster of subscribers to a neonatal nursing journal. The tool that was used in this study is an attitudinal assessment questionnaire developed by the investigator. Data obtained were described and synthesized by use of measures of central tendency, variability, frequency, and the chi square statistic. Comments to the questionnaire almost overwhelmingly referred to the participants' difficulty in responding as the issues were felt to be dependent on the particular fetal-infant, family, and circumstances involved. Respondents strongly supported the need for situational ethics in cases involving fetal-infants.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Richey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003422:Critical Care / Q000191:economics; D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D028741:Ethics Committees, Clinical; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009014:Morals; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D018579:Patient Selection; D010819:Physician's Role; D011247:Pregnancy; D040841:Resource Allocation; D012297:Right to Die; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012935:Social Justice; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D026712:Value of Life; D028761:Withholding Treatment