title: Everyday nursing practice values in the NICU and their reflection on breastfeeding promotion.
abstract: In this ethnographic study I examined neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses' everyday practice values and explored how breastfeeding promotion fit within this context. The study was conducted over a 14-month period and included participant observation and interviewing of 114 purposively selected nurses in a level-IV NICU in the United States. Uncertainty emerged as a central concern underlying everyday practice values. Three themes described these values: (a) maximizing babies' potentials in the midst of uncertainty; (b) relying on the sisterhood of NICU nurses to deal with uncertainty; and (c) confronting uncertainty through tight control of actions, reliance on technology, and maximal efficiency in use of time. A fourth theme demonstrated how these values were reflected in NICU breastfeeding practices. Although high-control, high-tech, and time-urgent practice values were helpful in confronting uncertainty, these values also posed challenges to ongoing nursing efforts to promote breastfeeding. These values must be addressed for effective breastfeeding promotion.
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. rcricco@nursing.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cricco-Lizza
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology*; D003422:Critical Care; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011247:Pregnancy; D036301:Qualitative Research; D035501:Uncertainty; D055815:Young Adult